ABSTRACT
The Beveridge Plan itself embodies six principles: comprehensiveness, unification of administrative responsibility, classification, adequate benefit, flat rate of contribution, flat rate of benefit. Any social security scheme which is worth its salt must cover all citizens irrespective of means or occupation, and it must cover all universal risks. The Plan provides unemployment benefit for all normally employed persons without exception; benefit is paid without means test for the whole duration of unemployment. The essence of the Plan is that free medical treatment is provided for everybody. Until the present time, workmen’s compensation has been a charge on the employer, on the traditional grounds that if the employer has to pay for accidents he will therefore adopt the proper safety measures. The introduction of the Housewife’s Policy is one of the most imaginative features of the Plan. The Plan provides a funeral grant—better called death benefit—of £20 for an adult, with lower scales for children.
