How did the Webbs campaign for social security before the First World War?

Before the First World War, the Webbs campaigned for social security primarily through the influential work of Beatrice Webb during her tenure on the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws (1905–1909).1

Beatrice Webb authored the Minority Report (1909), a landmark document that outlined the foundations of the welfare state decades before the Beveridge Report of 1942. Following the publication of this report, the Webbs organized a significant nationwide agitation to promote their vision for social reform. Their efforts to establish a comprehensive system were eventually countered in 1911, when the government introduced a more limited, hastily improvised scheme of contributory social insurance.1

Throughout this period, the Webbs utilized their expertise in social research and their commitment to institutional development to shift public policy toward state-supported welfare, moving away from their earlier strategy of "permeation"—the practice of influencing powerful individuals across political lines—as the political landscape shifted toward the Labour Party.1