The 1942 report on
Social Insurance and Allied Services, known commonly as the
Beveridge Report, was an influential document in the founding of the
welfare state in the
United Kingdom, published in November 1942. It was chaired by the
Liberal economist
William Beveridge, who identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease, and went on to propose widespread reform to the system of social welfare to address these. The Report came in the midst of war, and promised a reward for the sacrifices undertaken by everyone. Highly popular with the public, the report formed the basis for the post-war reforms known as the Welfare State, which include the expansion of
National Insurance and the creation of the
National Health Service. The report was printed by Alabaster Passmore & Sons Limited which kept their factory in Maidstone busy when there was very little other printing work available.