The Cabinet Papers banner  1930s Depression and unemployment  A
1938 Trades Union Congress (TUC) poster encouraging workers to
join-up.  ©TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan
University  The 1929 the American stock market crash set off
global economic shock waves. British exports, already falling in
the 1920s, fell by half again and unemployment rose to three
million. The National Government of 1931 cut benefits of insured
workers by ten per cent. The Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald,
faced the prospect of millions of workers relying on 'poor law
relief', paid for by local ratepayers, who were hard pressed
themselves. It became clear that the unemployed had to be
supported from national taxation and not local rates - a process
that was completed by 1934.  Means testing  In order to qualify
for dole, a worker had to pass a means test. The Public
Assistance Committees (PACs) put the worker's finances through a
rigorous investigation before they could qualify for benefit.
Officials went into every detail