The Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 was legislated under the influence of the pension-debates in the late nineteenth century. But it did not follow the system of the universal state aid which had been suggested in the debates. Although it was based upon a comprise between the stateaid plan and the selective one, there were broad social consensus on the universal pensions, in the process of its legislation. Many politicians and policy-makers agreed with the view that every citizen should receive some pensions in his old age. This consensus had functioned as the basis of social welfare in twentieth-century Britain. The act stemmed not from a few politicians’ decisions, but from the long debates and discourses which had been held since the late nineteenth century. At that time there were a series of social crises such as inefficiency of the poor law system, financial problems of friendly societies, and the increase of the old-aged. Many intellectuals and writers attended and initiated the debates of old-aged pensions for the purpose of solving those difficulties. The Parliament was also interested in that issue, and appointed the commission and committees to examine the real situation of the oldaged. In short, the Old Age Pensions Act shows us the characteristic of British social reform as well as let us know the process of its development in the twentieth century.