After the end of the first world war, there was not much help for the poor people of Britain. The only form of help was the 'National insurance benefit' (set up in 1911) which was set up for workers in certain industries were their work was not steady. An example of this form of work would be ship building. employers and workers paid some money into the unemployment fund and if work became unsteady then workers would be paid for a maximum of 15 weeks.
During the 1920's there was a lot of unemployment and the economy was struggling. During the war, work had been taken over by women and as the soldiers came home they were expected to give up their jobs so that the returning men could take over. Because of this most workers and unemployed were men who had families to take care of.
Many returning soldiers and war workers re-took their jobs after the war had ended. Work was hard to find for them as they had been out of the country for so long. Because of this the Government set up a scheme called 'the dole'. This was a donation scheme for those soldiers and war workers with no work where they would be paid small benefits.
The depression also occurred during this time which caused unemployment in Britain to worsen. From 1929 to 1930 unemployment rose from 1.5 million to 2.4 million people. This led to many workers from badly affected industries and the unemployed to protest in multiple different ways. Some of the ways they protested were by collecting petitions and people writing individually to the government asking for work. Newspapers also highlighted the problems and 'hunger marches' were organised to march through London to protest about the conditions in Britain. These marches were almost always organised by the 'National Unemployed workers' movement (NUWM)' which was set up in 1921. This organisation wanted people to have work more than benefits. In the meantime people were still paid benefits in multiple different ways by the government and the unemployment fund as they were unable to find work.
During the 1920's there was a lot of unemployment and the economy was struggling. During the war, work had been taken over by women and as the soldiers came home they were expected to give up their jobs so that the returning men could take over. Because of this most workers and unemployed were men who had families to take care of.
Many returning soldiers and war workers re-took their jobs after the war had ended. Work was hard to find for them as they had been out of the country for so long. Because of this the Government set up a scheme called 'the dole'. This was a donation scheme for those soldiers and war workers with no work where they would be paid small benefits.
The depression also occurred during this time which caused unemployment in Britain to worsen. From 1929 to 1930 unemployment rose from 1.5 million to 2.4 million people. This led to many workers from badly affected industries and the unemployed to protest in multiple different ways. Some of the ways they protested were by collecting petitions and people writing individually to the government asking for work. Newspapers also highlighted the problems and 'hunger marches' were organised to march through London to protest about the conditions in Britain. These marches were almost always organised by the 'National Unemployed workers' movement (NUWM)' which was set up in 1921. This organisation wanted people to have work more than benefits. In the meantime people were still paid benefits in multiple different ways by the government and the unemployment fund as they were unable to find work.