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MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
HOME INTELLIGENCE SPECIAL REPORT
PUBLIC FEELING ABOUT THE BEVERIDGE PROPOSALS
SECRET

MAY 31, 1944.

At the request of the Office of the Minister of Reconstruction, two parallel enquiries were made to find out the present state of public feeling about the proposals in the Beveridge Report, and also how far the public expected these proposals to be implemented by the Government. One enquiry was made through the Intelligence Officers in the Regions; the other through the British Institute of Public Opinion. The enquiries by Intelligence Officers covered the period March 28 to April 11, 1944, while the interviewing for the B.I.P.O. enquiry was done during the last week in April 1944. Thus the enquiries did not coincide exactly in time; but the evidence collected in the routine Home Intelligence work does not suggest that there was any change in feeling in the short interval between them.

The two enquiries have therefore provided an opportunity of comparing Home Intelligence qualitative results, with the quantitative results obtained by interviewing a random sample of the public. It must be remembered that the aims of the two methods are not identical. Home Intelligence aims at discovering the nature and volume of spontaneous discussion on any subject, including the reasons given for opinions held. Whereas survey methods, using interviewing and questionnaires, aim at discovering the views of everyone in answer to direct questions. Despite this, the results of the two enquiries show a high level of agreement.

One of the features of the Home Intelligence enquiry was the small amount of spontaneous comment. This does not appear directly in the British Institute of Public Opinion results; but is shown indirectly, in that a high percentage of people were unable or unwilling to offer opinions. On most subjects studied by the British Institute, the “Don't know” figure is between 5% and 10%; in the present investigation, it was frequently between 15% and 25%.

The results of the Home Intelligence enquiry have already been presented (April 21, 1944). The main conclusions are recapitulated in this report, where relevant, to enable them to be set against the British Institute of Public Opinion results.

I. Knowledge of the Beveridge Proposals

Home Intelligence Conclusions (hereinafter H.I.): “People seem to be very hazy as to its provisions; to the majority it simply means security and greater benefits in times of need”.... “The detailed contents of the report - even the simpler financial details - are not generally known. The report is seen as offering security against unemployment, ill-health, and old age.”

B.I.P.O. result :

Q: “ Can you say what the Beveridge report is about ?”

This result appears to confirm the lack of detailed knowledge found in the H.I. enquiry.

II. The Government's attitude to the proposals

H.I. : “There is widespread suspicion of the Government's attitude to the Beveridge Plan. A great many, perhaps the majority, are convinced that it will either be shelved, mutilated, or whittled away, or else an inferior substitute put forward instead..... A minority, however, are hopeful that the Government will either implement the Beveridge proposals, or come out with a social security scheme of their own in due course.”

B.I.P.O. :

Q: “ Do you think the Government does or does not intend to do anything about the Beveridge report ?”

Comments on question :

Remarks

It will be seen that in the higher economic group, and to a lesser extent, in the middle economic group and the “informed group”, there is more expectation of Government action than in the lower economic group.

In all groups, except the higher economic, only a minority expect Government action.

An approximately equal minority (27 + 14 = 41%) do not expect Government action, while 18% express no opinion.

Q: “ How much do you think they (the Government) are likely to accept ?”

Remarks

The replies to this question show that only a small minority expect the Government to implement most of the report. The majority certainly expect less than the whole. The expectant minority is again biggest in the upper income group, with the informed group next. It can thus be said that the H.I. and B.I.P.O. findings agree very closely.

Remarks

A clear majority think the Government ought to take over weekly insurances, but only a minority expect them to do so. There is no disagreement here between H.I. and B.I.P.O. findings.

IV. The date for starting

H.I. : “No definite date is suggested. Many profess to doubt whether a Government Social Security scheme will ever materialise...Those who do expect a Government scheme variously suggest “When the war in Europe is over”; “immediately the war ends”; or vaguely “sometime after the war”.

B.I.P.O. :

Q: “ Do you think that it would be a rather easy or rather difficult business to put the Beveridge scheme into operation ?”

Comments on Question :

This question was intended to find out how far the very great administrative problems were realised by the general public.

Q: “ How soon after the end of the war against Germany do you think the Government could bring it into operation ?”

Q: “Suppose the Government increased pensions together with sickness and unemployment benefits, and at the same time brought in children's allowances, would you be ready to wait longer than.......years?” (No. of years as stated in answer to previous question).

Remarks

These results should be treated with caution. People are being asked to cast their minds ahead, when circumstances may be very different from what they are now. And most members of the public find it extremely difficult to visualise the future, except in terms of the past. Furthermore, the last question is badly phrased and has two possible meanings. It was intended to find out if people were ready to wait longer, provided certain interim improvements were introduced. On the other hand, since their knowledge of the detailed contents of the Beveridge Report is so vague, they may have thought that the proposals in the question represented something better than Beveridge. The answer “Yes” may therefore have meant they were ready to wait longer in order to get more.

A majority certainly think the Beveridge Plan could be brought into operation within 2 years of the end of the war against Germany. Beyond that, it would be unwise to go, on the basis of this material.

The absence of spontaneous comment in the H.I. material suggests that the question is not one to which people have given a great deal of thought.

V. Conclusions

The two investigations, by Home Intelligence and the British Institute of Public Opinion, yield results which agree closely.

Home Intelligence yielded some material which would have been difficult to obtain by questionnaire. For example, it demonstrated a number of causes for the absence of discussion of the Beveridge proposals (disillusionment about postwar conditions, the competing claims of other proposals and more especially of the second front, and general war-weariness).

B.I.P.O. on the other hand showed that the views of those who were offering no spontaneous opinions were closely in line with the few who were offering such opinions.

The two methods must therefore be regarded as complementary.

The results may be summarised thus:-

1. Discussion of the Beveridge proposals is at present limited in extent.

2. Detailed knowledge of the Report is scanty, though the principle that it represents - improved social insurance - is generally recognised.

3. Only 20% of the public expect the Government to accept most of the Beveridge Report. Between 30% and 40% expect the Government to accept little or none of the report.

4. More people would prefer the Government to administer the social security scheme, than would prefer it to be run by Approved Societies. The Approved Societies have the fewest supporters among those who are actually members.

5. A clear majority think the Government should take over weekly insurances of the industrial type.

6. A majority think a social security scheme could be brought in within two years of the end of the war against Germany.