William Henry Beveridge

William Henry Beveridge 1879-1963, British economist, b. India, grad. Oxford, 1902. His fame as an authority on social problems was gained through investigations and writings in government service (1908-19), especially as director of labor exchanges, set up largely through his efforts, and in the food ministry, where he devised rationing during World War I. Knighted in 1919, he was director of the London School of Economics from that year until 1937, when he became master of University College, Oxford. Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942), a report prepared for the British government, proposed a social security system "from the cradle to the grave" for all British citizens. In 1944 his Full Employment in a Free Society advocated planned public spending, control of private investment, and other measures to assure full employment. He served (1944-45) as a Liberal member of Parliament and was in 1946 made 1st Baron Beveridge of Tuggal. Beveridge advocated state management to complement, not replace, individual initiative. This was a theme of such later writings as Voluntary Action (1948) and A Defence of Free Learning (1959).

Beveridge, William Henry, 1st Baron Beveridge (1879–1963) British economist and social reformer. At the invitation of Winston CHURCHILL he entered (1908) the Board of Trade and published his notable report, Unemployment, in 1909. In it he argued that the regulation of society by an interventionist state would strengthen rather than weaken the free market economy. He was instrumental in drafting the Labour Exchanges Act (1909) and the National Insurance Act (1911). In 1941 he was commissioned by the government to chair an inquiry into the social services and produced the report Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942). This was to become the foundation of the British WELFARE STATE and the blueprint for much social legislation from 1944 to 1948.

Beveridge, William Henry, Baron (1879–1963) British academic and social reformer. A director (1909–16) of the labour exchanges, Beveridge later became director (1919–37) of the London School of Economics and master (1937–45) of University College, Oxford. As chairman (1941–42) of the Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, he wrote the Beveridge Report, the basis of the British welfare state.