Korean version of the Beveridge Committee

The modern system of social welfare system is indebted to two giants of world history. One of them is German political strategist Otto von Bismarck, who introduced insurance for health, accidents, and old age and disability in the late 1880s when rapid industrialization led to unemployment and health issues. Germany started the world’s first social insurance programs under which subscribers paid premiums and got benefits when needed. The other is the British economist William Beveridge (1879-1963). Winston Churchill’s war cabinet created several committees to announce the national vision and give hope to the British people after 1941, when the U.K. was plunged into World War II. The Beveridge Committee was one of them and created the idea of providing social welfare for the people.

A report that the committee submitted to the British government in 1942 was originally titled “Social Insurance and Allied Services.” It was later known as the Beveridge Report in being named after the committee chairman. The report blamed want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness as preventing the development of British society. Fighting poverty was the key solution to the five evils. Beverage claimed that a minimum standard of living should be guaranteed to all people regardless of assets and income to fight poverty. Universalism and the national minimum were the two key principles of the report. All Britons grew excited over the promise of free education and medical service and full employment.

When World War II ended in 1945, the U.K. disbanded the war cabinet and held general elections. The Conservative Party led by war hero Churchill took a mediocre stance because it knew the difficulty of implementing the Beveridge Report`s proposals due to lack of resources. The Labor Party, on the other hand, pledged to implement the suggestions. As a result, the people chose the “sweat welfare” of the latter and turned their backs on Churchill, who saved their country from Nazi Germany. As the report proposed, the Labor Party, which won an overwhelming election victory, introduced family allowances in 1945 and nationalized hospital service in 1948 (free medical service) to lay the foundation of today`s “cradle to grave” welfare state.

The U.K. and other European countries could offer universal welfare despite the large financial burden because of their relatively lower defense budgets thanks to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, and their consensus on the need for welfare in the Cold War competition against the communist Soviet Union. Social welfare for all people has become a subject of reform in Europe.

In Korea, the presidential transition committee of President-elect Park Geun-hye says it plans to create a Korean version of the Beveridge Committee under the president or prime minister to reform welfare administration. The proposed body will seek to correct redundancy and inefficiency in welfare programs scattered across ministries with an annual budget of 100 trillion won (94 billion U.S. dollars). The Beveridge Committee was an idea bank, not a body for implementation. The incoming Park administration should first set welfare principles that reflect the country`s economic situation and needs of the times.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)