Living Standards

Question 1

During WW1 - food

Answer 1

• severe shortages - hard to farm as horses requisitioned for the Front + food produced sent to Front
• Allied blockades of ports stopped supplies getting into Germany
• introduction of alternative foods - K-Brot - bread made from potatoes + oats + straw

Question 2

During WW1 - children + mothers

Answer 2

• infant mortality + stillbirth rates were high - poor health of mothers
• malnutrition - in one disc trick of Berlin 90% of children between *2 - 6 years old were undernourished
• Weimar gov had to deal with low standard of living + support war veterans + orphans + widows

Question 3

Lack of food

Answer 3

• from 1919 the Weimar gov ran an analysis of the standard of living based on the cost of a basket of goods for a family of five
• meat was possible perhaps once a week
• the poorest mostly had bread + potatoes + some vegetables

Question 4

Benefits for the poorest

Answer 4

• regulated pensions
• regional poor relief
• initially standard of living increased - subsidiaries + loans + pensions
• gov. went into debt to afford these

Question 5

Effect of inflation on people

Answer 5

• unemployment increased + badly paid jobs with long hours
• women (single parents) had to take on home-based work which was paid by the piece - making buttons
• the 1918 8-hour working day law was no longer followed by 1924 - workers couldn’t afford to rally against it

Question 6

Housing

Answer 6

• cramped housing with shared toilets + washing facilities
• the poorest shared one room + no running water
• 1925 Berlin had approx 130k lodgers + 44k who paid to sleep only in a bed
• children often expected to give up beds for a lodger

Question 7

Loss of jobs

Answer 7

• skilled workers affected by unemployment - often spent all their savings + had to claim benefit
• number of clerical workers rose in 1920s - women preferred as their wages were significantly lower
• many lost their businesses + homes
• only a few did well - black marketers + industrialists + landlords

Question 8

Legislation timeline 1918 - 32

Answer 8

• 1920 May - Reich Pension Law regulated pensions - veterans + widows + orphans
• 1922 Feb - Labour Exchange Law set up gov offices to train + help unemployed - idea that everyone has the right to work
• 1924 Feb - Economic Enabling Law restructures unemployment benefit + rates for employers’ contributions
• Reich Social Welfare Law sets up municipal welfare offices to regulate all types of benefits
• 1927 July - Unemployment Insurance Law introduced unemployment insurance to give benefits to all out of work and not only those unemployed due to sickness

Question 9

Hashude

Answer 9

• October 1936 - July 1940 - asocial families sent to Hashude for re-education for a year
• a fenced-off housing estate for 78 families
• re-education = lectures + classes + set schedules + visits from officials at any time
• closed down when housing became scarce

Question 10

For conformists - workers

Answer 10

• living standards improved - unemployment decreased - wages increased
• wages were regulates so there **wasn’t much spending money*
• Strength Through Joy programme provided loans + médicale care + food

Question 11

National Socialist People’s Welfare - NSV - 1933

Answer 11

• aim to create a healthy nation
• ran Mother and Child programmes + crèches + kindergartens - to influence upbringing
• responsible for housing - by 1939 over a million volunteers + 50k block wardens
  -from 1933 - a yearly Winter Aid programme - soup kitchens + food + clothing parcels at emergency centres - hard to refuse to contribute
• some factories took voluntary donations from wages