ABSTRACT
The people were being found who were clearly in poverty, and social workers among the poorer families and among children slowly came to be very much concerned about the numbers involved. The extent to which old people dominated the thoughts of those concerned with the social services is illuminating. An enormous number of surveys of old people were undertaken all over the country in the twenty or so years after the war. It highlighted the inadequacy of provision for old people, and pointed out the need for a solution of the problem other than the Beveridge solution. It was one of the influences that led the government into a fundamental break with the Beveridge principle of uniform flat rate benefits, in the introduction of a graduated pension's scheme in 1959. The final series of surveys culminated in a large-scale investigation undertaken by the National Assistance Board itself and published in 1966.
