The Means Test and the unemployed in south Wales and the north-east of England, 1931–1939

Ward, Stephanie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-7129 2008. The Means Test and the unemployed in south Wales and the north-east of England, 1931–1939. Labour History Review 73 (1) , pp. 113-132. 10.1179/174581808X279136

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

In November 1931, a household means test was introduced as a requirement for unemployment benefit for those unemployed who had received twenty-six weeks' insurance payments. The test was the most controversial piece of unemployment legislation introduced in the interwar period and it provoked a massive outcry. While many of the larger marches against the Means Test have been explored, there has been little attempt to analyse the wider response to the measure. This article redresses this balance by discussing the effects of and the response to the Means Test in two regions with striking similarities; south Wales and the north-east of England. These were two of the worst affected areas during the industrial depression and how the local authorities, political parties, trade unions, unemployed organisations and the unemployed themselves reacted to the imposition of the Means Test is here examined.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Publisher:	Liverpool University Press
ISSN:	0961-5652
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2022 09:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/31335

Citation Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item