Social welfare reforms in Wiemar Germany
General sucess
Things had to change because of the state of Germany following the war
Simply people needed more help
First reform of social legislation from 1880, hence bridged the gap between olden and modern day social legislation
The new reforms were strikingly sucessfull and met Germanys new needs sucessfully
However not popular with all - expecially those who were heavily taxed
How were these reforms going to be financed however?
Proposed to increase capital
Proposed to increase highest earners income tax from 4-60%
Erzberg finance minister at the time
As expected, this wasnt very popular among the middle class
It was the start of the rich funding the poor like we see in modern day society
Regulations on work
Benefits also given
As a lead on from this, the Weimar republic established many laws
The leigen-stinnes agreement was an agreement between the head of the trade unions and leader of industrial employees which basically states that if the trade unions didn't cause problems, then the working day would be limited to 8 hours and working conditions would be monitored
One of which made the maximum working week 48 hours
Hence improving workers satisfaction and quality of life
It also made it compulsory for workers and employers to settle out disputes from strikes
Social Welfare reforms for the Young
Youth clubs and sport activities provided
Large state subsidies given to build schools, parks and sports facilities
Scheme to help young from poor backgrounds
1922 National Yoth Welfare Law
Welfare reforms for widows and injured
1920 social legislations
Provided pensions and benefits to the widows and those injured by war who could no l0onger work
Hence helping these people to recover without the stress of money
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However, due to the 1923 Hyperinflation crisis, these fixed pensions were vitually worthless, so these people suffered immensly
Reforms for unemplyed
Provided 75% of pay for 3/4 of the year
This was the biggest welfare scheme for the iunemployed in the world
1927 National unemplotment insurance scheme
Hence meaning it should have been pretty siucesful
Yet unemployment figures still didn't fall below 1.3 million - although this is a lot, it had over halfed during the golden years
Healthcare
Healthcare provided by doctors and was funded by insurance
There was occupational diseases insurnace to fund healthcare for people who had fallen ill as a result of their work - for example work in a chemical factory
National health insurance scheme - various laws between 1923 -25
Large state subsidies to build hospitals and sports facilities
Housing
A further 200,000 houses were renovated
2 million houses were built between 1924 and 1931
This building investment meant the homelessness figure decreased by 60% in this decade
Whilst this is great evidence for a so called "Golden Age", it had to be funded by government expenditure which had risen from 15-25% and hence this was having massive financial implications