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Family support

In August 1946 the first recipients of family allowances meet the Minister of National Insurance at Stepney in London.
In August 1946 the first recipients of family allowances meet the Minister of National Insurance at Stepney in London.
©Topfoto

During the Second World War, the government became concerned with finding a way to support families without causing inflationary increases in wages. Although wage earners with children already received a child tax allowance, this did not help poorer families.

Related documents

Search using Family Allowances Bill Family Income Supplement Child Benefit

Further reading

  • Land, A., Lowe, R. & Whiteside, N. , The Development of the Welfare State 1939-1951 A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office (London: HMSO, 1992)
  • Bridgen, P. & Lowe, R., Welfare Policy under the Conservatives 1951-1964 A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office (London: PRO Publications, 1998)
  • Glennerster, H., British Social Policy 1945 to the Present (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007)
  • Timmins, N., The Five Giants A Biography of the Welfare State (London: Harper Collins Publisher, 2001)