National Insurance Act 1911
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An Act to provide for Insurance against Loss of Health and for the Prevention and Cure of Sickness and for Insurance against Unemployment, and for purposes incidental thereto. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 55 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 16 December 1911 |
| Commencement | 15 July 1912 |
| Repealed | 23 May 1950 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The National Insurance Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 55) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foundations of the modern welfare state. It also provided unemployment insurance for designated cyclical industries. It formed part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal governments of 1906–1915, led by Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. David Lloyd George, the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, was the prime moving force behind its design, negotiations with doctors and other interest groups, and final passage, assisted by Home Secretary Winston Churchill.