From National Insurance in 1911 to Employment and Support Allowance

This chapter provides an overview of the legislative changes in incapacity benefits between 1911 and the present day. It summarises the provisions of the National Insurance Act 1911, including the governance of the scheme through a system of Approved Societies, regulation by central government and mechanisms for appeal. The foundation of the post-Second World War welfare state brought about changes to the incapacity benefit scheme through the National Insurance Act 1946. This set the scheme on a wholly statutory basis with a new network of decision making and appeals mechanisms. An expansion of benefits for disabled people in the 1970s brought the highly discriminatory Housewives Non-Contributory Invalidity Pension. Contraction in the welfare state brought Incapacity Benefit in the 1990s and Employment and Support Allowance in 2008.

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Notes

Archive sources are from the National Archives in London unless otherwise specified. See Appendix for full details of archive sources.

The names for the adjudicators at appeal hearings changed over the course of this period. I will use the term adjudicators in the book for simplicity.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Edinburgh, UK Jackie Gulland

1. Jackie Gulland