National Insurance Act 1946

The National Insurance Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 67) was a British act of Parliament passed during the Attlee ministry which established a comprehensive system of social security throughout the United Kingdom.

The act meant that all who were of working age were to pay a weekly contribution. If they had been paying National Insurance, mothers were to be entitled to an allowance (of 18 weeks) for each child as well as a lump sum when the child was born. The act however excluded married women. The weekly contributions meant that benefits including sickness benefit and unemployment benefits were able to be offered. Pensions were to offered to men and women at ages 65 and 60 respectively.

Attlee had campaigned hard in his campaign leading up to the 1945 election for the creation of the welfare state. When elected, he and his administration and adopted Beveridge proposal from 1944 to keep to his manifesto promise.

According to the historian Kenneth O. Morgan, the Act constituted "a measure which provided a comprehensive universal basis for insurance provision that had hitherto been unknown".