Page "Harold Wilson" Paragraph 57

Increased funds were allocated to social services during the First Wilson Government's time in office.

Between 1963 and 1968, spending on housing increased by 9. 6 %, social security by 6. 6 %, health by 6 %, and education by 6. 9 %, while from 1964 to 1967 social spending increased by 45 %.

During the six years of the First Wilson Government, spending on social services rose much faster than real personal incomes, and from 1964 to 1969, spending on social services rose from 14. 6 % to 17. 6 % of GNP, an increase of nearly 20 %.

Altogether, from 1964 to 1970, spending on the social services rose from 16 % to 23 % of national wealth between 1964 and 1970.

As noted by the historian Richard Whiting, spending on social services under Wilson rose faster than the growth in GNP, by 65 % ( excluding housing ) as against 37 % for GNP, " a substantially better record than that achieved by the preceding Conservative governments .”