affordable housing. Wheatley was able to provide public housing to council tenants, as against the previous government's commitment to privatisation. This landmark Act subsidised the construction of 521,700 rented homes at controlled rents by 1933, when the subsidy for encouraging local authority housing construction was abolished. Various improvements were also made in benefits for pensioners and the unemployed. More generous provision for the unemployed was provided, with increases in both children's allowances and in unemployment benefits for both men and women. Unemployment benefit payments were increased from 15 shillings (75p) to 18 shillings (90p) a week for men, and from 12 shillings (60p) to 15 shillings (75p) for women, while the children's allowance was doubled to two shillings. The "gap" between periods of benefit under the unemployment insurance scheme was also abolished. In addition, eligibility for benefits was extended,The People's Party: the History of the Labour Party by Tony Wright and Matt Carter while the household means-test for the long-term unemployed was removed, more people were made eligible for unemployment benefits, uncovenanted benefits (beyond those covered by insurance) were made a statutory right, and the duration of unemployment benefits was extended from 26 to 41 weeks. However, a "genuinely seeking work" clause, by which applicants had to prove that they were actively seeking work, was introduced, a move that the government saw as a means of preventing abuse but drew criticism from within the Labour movement. For pensioners, increases were made in both old-age pensions and the pensions of ex-servicemen and of their widows and children. Improvements were made in the condition of old-age pensioners by allowing small incomes from savings to be disregarded in calculating the pension due. As a result of this change, 60,000 elderly people, whose meagre savings had previously reduced their pension entitlement, received the full state pension. Eligibility for the state pension was also extended so that it covered 70% of the over-seventies, and 150,000 elderly people who had never received a pension before were now entitled to them. In addition, changes were made which allowed for pensions to be transferred to a surviving parent of a dependant who had a pension. An Old Age Pensions Act was also passed, which guaranteed a weekly pension of ten shillings (50p) to people over the age of seventy who earned under 15 shillings (75p) a week. The government also endeavoured to extend educational opportunities. Local authorities were