Editing History of the United Kingdom (section)

===Politics and economics of the 1920s===

====Expanding the welfare state====
Two major programmes that permanently expanded the welfare state passed in 1919 and 1920 with surprisingly little debate, even as the Conservatives dominated parliament. The [[Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919]] set up a system of government housing that followed the 1918 campaign promises of "homes fit for heroes." This "Addison Act", named after the first Minister of Health, [[Christopher Addison]], required local authorities to survey their housing needs and start building houses to replace slums. The Treasury subsidized the low rents. In England and Wales 214,000 houses were built, and the Ministry of Health became largely a ministry of housing.{{Sfnp|Mowat|1955|pp=43–46}}

The [[Unemployment Insurance Act 1920]] passed at a time of very little unemployment. It set up the dole system that provided 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to practically the entire civilian working population except domestic service, farm workers, and civil servants. Funded in part by weekly contributions from both employers and employed, it provided weekly payments of 15s for unemployed men and 12s for unemployed women. Historian [[C. L. Mowat]] calls these two laws "Socialism by the back door", and notes how surprised politicians were when the costs to the Treasury soared during the high unemployment of 1921.{{Sfnp|Mowat|1955|pp=43–46}}