ABSTRACT
The death of an insured person may give rise to one or more of four national insurance benefits: Widows' benefits, guardian's allowance, child's special allowance and death grants. The National Insurance Act, 1946, changed drastically the types of widows' benefits, the conditions under which they were paid and the types of widows who received them. The benefits recommended by the Beveridge Report and introduced by the National Insurance Act, 1946 were designed to meet 'the varying needs of widowhood at different ages and in different circumstances'. The National Insurance Advisory Committee estimated that about 4% of widows were disqualified every year from receiving a widow's pension because of the marriage condition. The National Insurance Advisory Committee recommended that in the cases widows' contribution records should be so credited as to enable them to receive sickness or unemployment benefit. The National Insurance Act accepted the Beveridge recommendation and provided for the first time a national insurance benefit for funeral expenses.
