Unemployment Insurance Act 1920
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| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to amend the Law in respect of Insurance against Unemployment. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 30 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 9 August 1920 |
| Commencement | 8 November 1920[b] |
| Repealed | 18 March 1935 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | |
| Repeals/revokes | |
| Amended by | {{ubliUnemployment Insurance Act 1921|Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act 1921|Unemployed Workers’ Dependants (Temporary Provision) Act 1921|Unemployment Insurance Act 1922|Unemployment Insurance Act 1923|Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act 1924|Unemployment Insurance Act 1927|Unemployment Insurance Act 1930|Unemployment Act 1934}} |
| Repealed by | Unemployment Insurance Act 1935 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Unemployment Insurance Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 30) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It created the dole (weekly cash unemployment benefits) system of payments to unemployed workers.[1]
The act passed at a time of very little unemployment, when the Conservatives dominated Parliament. It set up the dole system that provided 15 weeks of unemployment benefits to cover over 11 million workers—practically the entire civilian working population except domestic service, farm workers, railway workers, and civil servants. Funded in part by weekly contributions from both employers and employed, it provided weekly payments of 15s for unemployed men and 12s for unemployed women. Historian Charles Loch Mowat calls this legislation "Socialism by the back door," and notes how surprised politicians were when the costs to the Treasury soared during the high unemployment of 1921.[2]
The whole act was repealed by section 116(2) of, and part I of the seventh schedule to the Unemployment Insurance Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 8), which came into force on 18 March 1935.[3]
