Liberal reform 1906-1914

... ;160 a year and aged between 16 and 60 were included-around 15 million in all. A sickness benefit of 10s per week for 13 weeks (7s 6d for women) and 5s a week for a further 13 weeks there after was the main entitlement. Others included were a 30s maternity grant, 5s a week disability benefits and free medical treatment under a panel doctor. This act was a positive move by the Liberals towards reducing poverty, as due to health levels being so bad at the time many were left sick with no way of receiving money. On the other hand, this Act may not have been very successful due to a number of reasons. The fact that this scheme did not cover hospital treatment, except admission to the sanatorium intended to benefit tuberculosis sufferers, increased the risk of poverty. The Act only covered workers and not their families, which meant that there was still a risk of poverty if a member of the family needed medical treatment. The government did attempt to improve the scheme by abolishing the reduced benefits for the second 13-week period in favour of the full benefit for a period of 26 weeks. Although this was an improvement, many workers were sick for longer than this, especially those who could not afford to pay for hospital treatment. The fact that this scheme was self-contributory reduced its success. Weekly contributions were raised from the worker (4d), the employer (3d) and the government (2d). The worker still did benefit from this if they were sick as the slogan 'nine pence for four pence', used by Lloyd George to popularise this concept shows. However, for many workers, this was just a cut in their wage, and therefore may have further encouraged poverty. Unemployment insurance covered far less workers: some 2.25 million, ...