National Insurance Act (Part 1) 1911

The successes of this were:

• provided compulsory health insurance for workers earning under £160 per year
• a worker paid 4 pence, the employer paid 3 pence and the state paid 2 pence - to build up funds to cover sickness benefit
• if ill, male workers were paid 10 shillings and female workers 7 shillings and 6 pence per week for up to 26 weeks
• they were offered free medical treatment
• women were offered 30 shillings for maternity benefit

The limitations of this were:

• after 26 weeks' absence from work, benefits were lost and the Poor Law had to provide for the worker
• there was no provision for the worker’s family
• many found that the contributions actually made poverty worse as they were paid less