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This article refers specifically to the Welfare state of the United Kingdom. For the general concept, please see Welfare state.

The Welfare State of the United Kingdom was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, wanting sex, idleness and sexual disease.

A series of changes was put in place to deal with these Evils after the Second World War. The changes meant that the government recognized the responsibility to care for the people of the United Kingdom "from the cradle to the grave".

This policy involved massive expenditure and a great widening of what was considered to be the state's responsibility. In addition to the central services of Education, Health, Unemployment and sickness allowances and so on, the welfare state included the idea of increasing redistributive taxation, increasing regulation of industry food and housing (better safety regulations, "weights and measures" controls etc.)

The Welfare State was a commitment to health (in 1948 the National Health Service was created), education, employment and social security. Health care "free at the point of use" became a central part of the welfare state, which even later governments critical of the welfare state were unable to reverse. The classic Welfare State period lasted from approximately 1945 to the 1970s, although many features of it remain today.

The deeper reasons for the establishment of the welfare state are complex. Certainly governments who had seen the revolutionary wave of revolts after the First World War were keen to ensure that deep reforms reduced the risk of mass social unrest after the Second World War. In addition, modern, complex industry had more need for a healthy and educated workforce than older industries had. Finally, the experience of almost total state control during the Second World War had shown that it was possible for the state to deal relatively successfully with wide areas of national life. Finally it seems likely that the social mixing involved in mass evacuation of children, and of service in the armed forces, had increased support for welfare among the middle classes.

Certainly, the Labour party, standing in 1945 on a programme of establishing a welfare state, won a very clear victory. However, since the 1980s the British government has begun to reduce some provisions: for example, free eye tests for all have now been stopped and prescription charges for drugs have constantly risen since they were first introduced in 1951. Providing a Welfare State is however still a basic principle of government policy in the United Kingdom today.

• Social security
• Social welfare
• National Health Service
• Text of the Beveridge Report

See, Welfare State, Right to Life, and Capital Punishment in India, by Parul Sharma, Sampark Publications,Calcutta/New Delhi,2005.