The Lord Beveridge | |
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Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed | |
In office 17 October 1944 – 15 June 1945 | |
Preceded by | George Charles Grey |
Succeeded by | Robert Thorp |
Majority | 7,523 (74.8%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Rangpur City, Bengal, India (now Bangladesh) | 5 March 1879
Died | 16 March 1963 Oxford, England | (aged 84)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | Janet Philip (m. 1942; died 1959) |
Parents |
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Education | Charterhouse School |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Occupation |
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Known for | Work towards founding the welfare state in the United Kingdom |
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, KCB (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician. He was a progressive and social reformer. He played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services (known as the Beveridge Report) was the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.[1]
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges. Later he was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security. He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed. When he lost in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords. He was the leader of the Liberal peers.