Reform

Relief meant helping people survive immediate hardship; recovery meant reviving the economy and employment; reform meant making lasting changes. A programme could provide valuable relief without ending the Depression. Equally, a successful reform could improve future security without immediately giving everyone a job.

Explaining these changes involves more than identifying a new weapon or naming a reform. It means showing how an influence produced a particular result.

Reform meant changing rules and institutions to make the economy more secure in future. These purposes overlapped: a government-funded job could relieve a family’s hardship while its wages helped shops and businesses recover.