ABSTRACT
By 1900, industrialisation and urbanisation had led to grave social problems in almost all European countries. Sections of the community including churchmen, industrialists and academics called upon governments to turn their attention to the ‘social question’. Although some governments — notably Germany’s — began to introduce social legislation, before World War I it made little impact on the ills of industrialised society. Consequently the debate about social welfare and the improvement of working and living conditions gathered strength among middle-class reformers. The worker’s remuneration can definitely be labelled as ‘relatively high’. It does not look as if better pay and shorter working hours will be matched by higher productivity and a consequent lowering of production costs, as is the case in America. The viability of industry must therefore be maintained by other means. Even if employers understandably condemn the reforms because on the whole the workers are perpetually demanding further changes, public opinion loudly approves of the progress.
