Post-war Britain and the Welfare State

After WWII, Clement Attlee's Labour government created the welfare state based on the Beveridge Report (1942). Key reforms: • NHS established in 1948 — free healthcare at point of use • National Insurance system for pensions and benefits • Free secondary education (Education Act 1944) • Social housing programmes • Nationalisation of major industries (coal, steel, railways) The Empire Windrush arrived in 1948, beginning mass migration from the Caribbean.