The welfare state of the United Kingdom began to evolve in the 1900s and early 1910s, and comprises expenditures by the government of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

intended to improve health, education,

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

and

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

. The British system has been classified as a liberal welfare state system. https://books.google.com/books/about/?id=zW2ungEACAAJ

History

The welfare state in the modern sense was anticipated by the

Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws 1832 The 1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws was a group set up to decide how to change the Poor Law systems in England and Wales. The group included Nassau Senior, a professor from Oxford University who was against the allowanc ...

which found that the

old poor law The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, "43rd Elizabeth" or the Old Poor Law was passed in 1601 and created a poor ...

(a part of the

English Poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged after the Second World ...

) was subject to widespread abuse and promoted squalor, idleness and criminality in its recipients, compared to those who received private charity. Accordingly, the qualifications for receiving aid were tightened up, forcing many recipients to either turn to private charity or accept employment. Opinions began to be changed late in the century by reports drawn up by men such as

Seebohm Rowntree Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH (7 July 1871 – 7 October 1954) was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He is known in particular for his three York studies of poverty conducted in 1899, 1935, and 1951. The fi ...

and Charles Booth into the levels of poverty in Britain. These reports indicated that in the massive industrial cities, between one-quarter and one-third of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. A 2022 study linked trade shocks during the first globalization (1870–1914) with increased support for a welfare state and reduced support for the Conservative Party.

Liberal reforms

The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

launched the welfare state in the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

with a series of major welfare reforms in 1906–1914. The reforms were greatly extended over the next forty years. The minimum wage was introduced in Great Britain in 1909 for certain low-wage industries and expanded to numerous industries, including farm labour, by 1920. However, by the 1920s, a new perspective was offered by reformers to emphasise the usefulness of

family allowance Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most cou ...

targeted at low-income families was the alternative to relieving poverty without distorting the labour market. The

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and the Labour Party adopted this view. In 1945, family allowances were introduced; minimum wages faded from view. The experience of almost total state control during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

had encouraged the belief that the state might be able to solve problems in wide areas of national life. The

Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

of 1906–1914 implemented welfare policies concerning three main groups in society: the old, the young and working people.

Beveridge Report and Labour

The aftermath of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

boosted demands for social reform, and led to a permanent increase in the role of the state in British society. The end of the war also brought a period of unemployment and poverty, particularly in northern industrial towns, that deepened into the Great Depression by the 1930s. During the war, the government became much more involved in people's lives via governmental organisation of the rationing of foodstuffs, clothing and fuel and extra milk and meals being given to expectant mothers and children. The wartime coalition, and the introduction of family allowances. Many people welcomed this government intervention and wanted it to go further. The

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Libe ...

of 1942, (which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease) essentially recommended a national, compulsory,

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of us ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

scheme which would combine health care, unemployment and retirement benefits. Beveridge himself was careful to emphasise that unemployment benefits should be held to a subsistence level, and after six months would be conditional on work or training, so as not to encourage abuse of the system. That was however predicated on the concept of the "maintenance of employment" which meant ‘it should be possible to make unemployment of any individual for more than 26 weeks continuously a rare thing in normal times’ and recognised that the imposition of a training condition would be impractical if the unemployed were numbered by the million. After its victory in the 1945 general election, the Labour Party pledged to eradicate the Giant Evils, and undertook policy measures to provide for the people of the United Kingdom "from the cradle to the grave." Included among the laws passed were the

National Assistance Act 1948 The National Assistance Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee. It formally abolished the Poor Law system that had existed since the reign of Elizabeth I, and established a social ...

National Insurance Act 1946 The National Insurance Act 1946 (c 67) was a British Act of Parliament passed during the Attlee ministry which established a comprehensive system of social security throughout the United Kingdom. The act meant that all who were of working age we ...

, and

National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946 The National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946 was a British Act of Parliament which provided compensation paid by the Ministry of National Insurance to workers who were left injured or disabled as a result of work-related accidents. The Act ...

Impact

This policy resulted in increased expenditure and a widening of what was considered to be the state's responsibility. In addition to the central services of education, health, unemployment and sickness allowances, the welfare state also included the idea of increasing redistributive taxation, increasing regulation of industry, food, and housing (better safety regulations,

weights and measures A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multip ...

controls, etc.) The foundation of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS) did not involve building new hospitals, but

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of existing municipal provision and charitable foundations. The aim was not to substantially increase provision but to standardise care across the country; indeed

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 194 ...

believed that the overall cost of medical care would decrease, as people became healthier and so needed less treatment. However, instead of falling, the cost of the NHS has risen by 4% annually on average due to an ageing population, leading to a reduction in provision. Charges for dentures, and spectacles were introduced in 1951 by the same Labour government that had founded the NHS three years earlier, and prescription charges by the successive

Conservative Government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Mi ...

were introduced in 1952. In 1988, free eye tests for all were abolished, although they are now free for the over-60s. Policies differ in different regions of the United Kingdom, but the provision of a welfare state is still a basic principle of government policy in the United Kingdom today. The principle of health care "free at the point of use" became a central idea of the welfare state, which later

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

governments, although critical of some aspects of the welfare state, did not reverse. Welfare spending on poor people dropped by 25% under the

United Kingdom government austerity programme The United Kingdom government austerity programme is a fiscal policy that was adopted for a period in the early 21st century following the Great Recession. The term was used by the Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2 ...

, cuts to benefits that disabled people receive were significant, Personal Independence Payments and

Employment and Support Allowance Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group o ...

have both dropped by 10%. Over half of families living below the breadline have at least one relative with a disability. Cuts include, tax credits (£4.6bn), universal credit (£3.6bn), child benefit (£3.4bn), disability benefits (£2.8bn),

and

Incapacity Benefit Incapacity Benefit was a British social security benefit that was paid to people facing extra barriers to work because of their long-term illness or their disability. It replaced Invalidity Benefit in 1995. The government began to phase out Inc ...

(£2bn) and housing benefit (£2.3bn). Frank Field said, "A £37bn attack has been mounted on the living standards of many of our fellow citizens to such an extent that possibly millions struggle to keep on top of their rent, pay the bills and buy adequate food. Likewise, an unknown number are unable to clothe their children properly before sending them to school where all too many of these children not only rely on

free school dinners A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

as a cornerstone of their diet, but on breakfast and supper clubs as well."Welfare spending for UK's poorest shrinks by £37bn
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Expenditure

In the financial year 2014/15, state pensions were overwhelmingly the largest governmental welfare expense, costing £86,500,000,000 followed by housing benefit, which accounted for over £20,000,000,000 Expenditure in 2015–16 on benefits included: £2,300,000,000 paid to unemployed people and £27,100,000,000 to people on low incomes, and £27,600,000,000 for personal tax credits.

Criticisms

Conservative thinkers have debated the structural incompatibility between the liberal principles and welfare state's principles. Certain sectors of society have argued that the welfare state creates a disincentive for working and investment. Also suggesting that the welfare state at times does not eliminate the causes of individual contingencies and needs. Economically, the net losers of the welfare state are often more against its values and role within society. Sometimes women who have nothing and cannot feed themselves or their children choose prostitution. Delays in benefit payments when claimants have no money to buy food or to pay rent can force claimants to crime or prostitution. One woman told ''

'': "We had just been made homeless and we had nothing, no food, nothing. I still feel angry when I think about it now that I had to degrade myself – but it was either that or see my children starve. I would do it again if I had to, but I hope I'm never in that situation again." In 2010, the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government led by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

argued for a reduction of welfare spending in the United Kingdom as part of their programme of austerity. Government ministers have argued that a growing culture of

welfare dependency Welfare dependency is the state in which a person or household is reliant on government welfare benefits for their income for a prolonged period of time, and without which they would not be able to meet the expenses of daily living. The United St ...

is perpetuating welfare spending, and claim that a cultural change is required to reduce the welfare bill. Public opinion in the UK appears to support a reduction in welfare spending, however commentators have suggested that negative public perceptions are founded on exaggerated assumptions about the proportion of spending on

unemployment benefit Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

and the level of

benefit fraud Benefit fraud is a form of welfare fraud as found within the system of government benefits paid to individuals by the welfare state in the United Kingdom. Definition of benefit fraud The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) define benefit fr ...

. Figures from the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

show that benefit fraud is thought to have cost taxpayers £1.2 billion during 2012–13, up 9% on the year before. This was lower than the £1.5 billion of benefit underpayment due to error. In some cases, relatives who bring up a child when the parents cannot bring up the child face sanctions and financial penalties, they can be left poor and homeless. There are also widespread complaints from church groups and others that the UK welfare state does insufficient work to prevent

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

, deprivation even

hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the ...

. In 2018,

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...

usage in the UK reached its highest point on record, with the UK's national food bank provider, Trussel Trust, stating that welfare benefits do not cover basic living costs. The Trussel Trust's figures showed that 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies were delivered to people from March 2017 to March 2018. This represented a 13% increase from the previous year. In 2018 support for raising taxes to finance more provision on health, education and social benefits was the highest it had been since 2002 according to NatCen Social Research. Two-thirds of Labour supporters favoured tax rises and 53% of Conservatives also favoured that. In 2018 the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

library estimated that by 2021, £37bn less would be spent on working-age social security than in 2010, despite rising prices and rising cost of living. Cuts to disability benefits, Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and

employment and support allowance Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group o ...

(ESA) are noteworthy, they will have fallen by 10%, since 2010. Over half of families with income below the breadline include at least one person with a disability. There are also cuts to

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...

Universal Credit Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's ...

child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most co ...

disability benefits ESA and

incapacity benefit Incapacity Benefit was a British social security benefit that was paid to people facing extra barriers to work because of their long-term illness or their disability. It replaced Invalidity Benefit in 1995. The government began to phase out Inc ...

and housing benefit. Alison Garnham of the

Child Poverty Action Group Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is a UK charity that works to alleviate poverty and social exclusion. History The Group first met on 5 March 1965, at a meeting organised by Harriett C. Wilson. It followed the publication of Brian Abel-Smith ...

said, "Cuts and freezes have taken family budgets to the bone as costs rise and there is more pain to come as the two-child limit for tax credits and universal credit, the bedroom tax, the benefit cap and the rollout of universal credit push families deeper into poverty." Social security payments in 2019 were the lowest they had been since the welfare state was started and

use had increased. The

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 and is an independent registered charity. IPPR has offices in Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, and Edinburgh. Funding comes from ...

(IPPR) found £73 per week, (which is standard for

that 2.3 million people claim) amounted to 12.5% of median earnings. When

was introduced in 1948 it amounted to 20%. Millions of people in 2019 were "excluded from mainstream society, with the basic goods and amenities needed to survive let alone thrive increasingly out of their grip". A senior government adviser stated that economic insecurity was now, "the new normal." The IPPR urged all parties to add an emergency £8.4bn into the welfare system, which has become harder than previous systems because debt deductions are made from payments, there is increasing underpayment and strict sanctions are applied. One in three universal credit claimants are working. Numerous negative consequences have been attributed to benefit sanctions imposed by the

(DWP), the UK Government department that runs the welfare state in the UK. These include "increased debt and rent arrears, food poverty, crime and worsening physical and

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

. Statistics indicate that in the period of 2011 to 2015 benefit sanctions on people with mental health problems increased by 668%. 19,259 people with mental health problems had benefits stopped in the period of 2014 to 2015, compared to 2,507 people in the period of 2011 to 2012. In 2020, the UK Government admitted that it had made no assessment of the impact that benefit sanctions made on mental health. At the same point in time the Government also refused to assess the impact benefit sanctions have on people’s mental health, which came after repeated warnings on the long-term damage they can cause to people that use the welfare state and to these people's families. Also in 2020, it was reported that at least 69 suicides were linked to the DWP's handling of benefit claims. The National Audit Office (NAO) said the actual number of deaths linked to claims could be much higher than this. It was also reported that the DWP were not looking into information from coroners or families, nor investigating all the reports of suicide made aware to it. In the same year the DWP were accused of a "cover-up" due to destroying approximately 50 reports connected to benefits being stopped. Officials blamed data protection laws for the actions, though the data watchdog denied there was any requirement to destroy the documents by any date. In March 2022, an academic study into whether benefit sanctions are linked to claimant ill-health, including mental illness and suicide was stopped after the DWP and Government ministers refused to release their recorded data on sanctions.

Historical statistics on welfare trends

Benefit rates as a percentage of industrial earnings

Note on source, as quoted in the text: "based on statistics of weekly earnings, ''Employment and Productivity Gazette''."

Changes in National Assistance/Supplementary Benefit

; Notes * (a) As quoted in the text: "the scale is calculated using the average discretionary addition (adjusted to spread winter fuel costs throughout the year) for retirement pensioners. It does not include any allowance for rent. The price index used for the single pensioner is that in the ''Employment and Productivity Gazette''." * (b) As quoted in the text: "it is assumed that the children are aged four, six, and eleven."

Increases in National Insurance benefits

; Notes: * (a) As quoted by text: "Based on average earnings for adult male manual workers in manufacturing, allowing for income tax and national insurance contributions." * (b) As quoted by text: "Calculated on the special price index for single pensioner households published by the ''

Employment and Productivity Gazette Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

'' adjusted for housing expenditure using the housing component of the retail price index. Since a disproportionate number of pensioners have controlled tenancies, this may overstate the increase in prices." * (c) This column is deflated by use of the Retail Price Index

Social security benefits as a percentage of average earnings

* a,b Man plus dependent wife. * c Man plus dependent wife on his insurance. * d Married couple. * e For one child.

Social policy benefits and earnings under the Labour Government 1964–69

Supplementary benefits rates as a proportion of income

Households dependent on Supplementary Benefit

Changes in real terms in social security benefits

; Notes: * (a) Refers to married couple. * (b) Refers to man plus dependent wife. * (c) Refers to man plus wife on his insurance. After 1971 refers to recipients under 80 years old. * (d) Includes family allowance and tax allowance combined for second child up to 1977, when these were unified into the child benefit.

Percentage change in social security benefits, prices and earnings

* (a) Single person. * (b) Single pensioner under age 80. * (c) General index of retail prices. * (d) Average gross weekly earnings of full-time adult male manual workers. For November 1978, October 1977 to October 1978 increase used.

Unemployment and sickness benefits as a percentage of income

* (a) After allowing for income tax and national insurance contributions. * (b) Average earnings of adult male manual workers. * (c) Earnings Related Supplement calculated using average earnings in October of the relevant tax year.

The real value of social security benefits, 1948–75

References

Bibliography

* Béland, Daniel, and Alex Waddan. "Conservatives, partisan dynamics and the politics of universality: reforming universal social programmes in the UK and Canada." ''Journal of Poverty and Social Justice'' 22#2 (2014): 83–97. * Calder, Gideon, and Jeremy Gass. ''Changing Directions of the British Welfare State'' (University of Wales Press, 2012). * Esping-Andersen, Gosta; ''The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism'', Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press (1990). * Ferragina, Emanuele and Seeleib-Kaiser, Martin. "Welfare Regime Debate: Past, Present, Futures?" ''Policy & Politics'' 39#4 pp. 583–611 (2011).http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/2011/00000039/00000004/art00010.** * Fraser, Derek. ''The evolution of the British welfare state: a history of social policy since the Industrial Revolution'' (2nd ed. 1984). * Gilbert, Bentley B. ''The Evolution Of National Insurance In Great Britain: The Origins of the Welfare State'' (1966). * Harris, Bernard. ''The origins of the British welfare state: social welfare in England and Wales, 1800–1945'' (Palgrave, 2004). * Häusermann, Silja, Georg Picot, and Dominik Geering. "Review article: Rethinking party politics and the welfare state–recent advances in the literature." British Journal of Political Science 43.01 (2013): 221–40
online
* Hay, Roy. "Employers and social policy in Britain: The evolution of welfare legislation, 1905–14." ''Social History'' 2.4 (1977): 435–55. * Hay, James Roy. ''Origins of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, 1906–14'' (1975) 78p
full text online
* Levine-Clark, Marjorie. ''Unemployment, Welfare, and Masculine Citizenship: So Much Honest Poverty in Britain, 1870–1930'' (Springer, 2015). * Mommsen, Wolfgang J., and Wolfgang Mock, eds. ''The emergence of the welfare state in Britain and Germany, 1850–1950'' (Taylor & Francis, 1981). * Slater, Tom. "The myth of “Broken Britain”: welfare reform and the production of ignorance." ''Antipode'' 46.4 (2014): 948–69
online
* Weiler, Peter. ''The New Liberalism: Liberal Social Theory in Great Britain, 1889–1914'' (Routledge, 2016). * Welshman John. ''Underclass: A History of the Excluded, 1880–2000'' (2006
excerpt

External links

Text of the Beveridge ReportThe Welfare State – Never Ending Reform
Brief history of the Welfare State by Frank Field (BBC website)
The UK Economy at the Crossroads
research paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research
Benefit sanctions lead claimants to suicide, crime and destitution, warns damning report

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

. Published 25 May 2016. {{UK benefits Taxation in the United Kingdom Social security in the United Kingdom Child welfare in the United Kingdom es:Estado del bienestar inglés ku:Hukmeta jînfirehiyê