William Beveridge

HH

A British revolution: his 1942 report became the foundation on which the Welfare State was built. Once destined for academia and public service, Beveridge found himself sidelined by Whitehall during WWII and tasked with a seemingly obscure inquiry into social insurance. Yet from this modest post, he produced the Beveridge Report, a visionary plan to defeat five “Giant Evils”: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness. It remains one of the most important social reforms in British history.