Abstract
In 1957, the Labour Party published radical proposals for a state earnings-related pension scheme (‘national superannuation’) whose funds were to be invested in stock markets to generate high returns, and to help modernize and dynamize the British economy. This paper explores a sophisticated campaign against the proposal by the insurance industry, and the resistance of the unions. In doing so, it considers the implications of this cross-class alliance, not least in terms of a possible missed opportunity to build a ‘developmental state’ in the UK, but also in terms of the country’s increasingly inadequate and inequitable system of pension provision.
| Translated title of the contribution | Britain's cross-class alliance against earnings-related pensions in the 1950s |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Title of host publication | Annual conference of the Economic History Society, Warwick University, 3-5 April 2009 |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Apr 2009 |