Introduced in Britain in 1948 and based on the National Insurance and National Health Service Acts, the Welfare State's main features are free medical services for all and joint employee/employer financing against old age. Contrary to popular belief, the author of this text argues, the father of the welfare state, William Beveridge, never believed in the idea of a cradle-to-grave state service. In the year the Labour Party celebrates its 100th birthday and New Labour embarks upon welfare reform, Derek Fraser provides a short overview of the system and its first half century.
