Friendly Societies were probably the most important kind of welfare in Britain before they were 'crowded out' by the welfare state. I contend that they provided substantial social security for the vast majority of people prior to the Unemployment Insurance and Health Insurance Acts of 1911.
In bringing to life the importance of friendly societies, I have been hampered by being unable to remember or find any reference to them in well-known 19th century novels. If anyone can recall such a reference, I would be delighted to hear of it. In the meantime, I have come across a paper on the internet which claims that Gladstone, one of the most important political figures of the century, was a member of one: The Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds (Ashton Unity).
Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Welfare benefits
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Hi James,
Funnily enough I came across your website when I was looking for an essay I read on the birth of the NHS about four years ago, and how, basically, the nhs was stolen from the friendly societies and pushed through parliament by the bma. apparently friendly societies were by then many of them very sophisticated, offering sick pay, pensions and even maternity pay to their members. One activist for the bma, when pressed for his reasons for this assault on the friendly societies gave two: one, doctors were 'gentlemen' and therefore shouldn't have to be paid by working men. And secondly, he said, 'the state has bigger pockets'.
Fraud exploded once the state took over, whereas before, people didn't tend to take from their own.
I had thought that I had read the research on the website of the Institute of Economic Affairs, which is the website I had been regularly visiting at the time. However, I have not been able to find it.
Don't know if that's helpful or not.
Winnie
Posted by: Winnie McCrann at April 11, 2008 09:28 PM
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Not novels I realise, but I had links to several chapters of a book on Oxford's history (I think it was at an academic abstract site called Emerald but can't find them anymore) which described just how much of the then "affordable housing" in Oxford was developed by the "Oxford Workers' Temporary Building Society". This is a friendly society mechanism where people save as in a credit union and when the society has enough in the pot to build a house it does so and draws lots to see which member gets it, then everyone carries on paying in until the next one can be built and so on.
Many of the "inner north Oxford" and "inner east Oxford" terraced streets were built by this body and other mutuals.
And some of the ideas are coming back - I am chair of a group called Oxfordshire Community Land Trusts that promotes a revitalised and updated form for delivering affordable property assets in the 21st century.
Too bad many people seem determined to demutualise what's left of the sector.
Posted by: Jock Coats at June 5, 2006 01:27 PM