4A - Changing Living Standards, 1918-1945 Flashcards

1
Q

How was DLG’s promise of a land fit for heros fulfilled in the PW period after WW1?

A

Initial PW boom, prices rose and gov did little to regulate production. Demobbed soldiers returned to work and it seemed that living standards would rise and that families would have spending power

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2
Q

What evidence is there that the PW boom ended in 1920?

A

1 million unemployed, ⅓ were ex servicemen. Cuts in living standards in many areas

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3
Q

How did some areas prosper after WW1 while some declined?

A

1932 12% of those in electrical appliance manufacture were unemployed compared with up to 70% of those engaged in ship building.

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4
Q

How did disparity in living standards show in the 1920s-30s?

A

1932 - London and the southeast faced unemployment rates of 11% compared to almost 40% in Wales

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5
Q

How was hunger present during the Great Depression?

A

Survey 1933 - concluded that unemployment benefits were insufficient to provide a minimum diet recommended by the Ministry of Health

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6
Q

Why did women go hungry more than men during the Great Depression?

A

More WC women went hungry than men when there was insufficient food to go around: mothers ensured their husbands and children were fed first

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7
Q

What did people’s diet consist of in the Great Depression and how was it funded sometimes?

A

Bread, margarine and tea made up most meals. Local greengrocers provided tick in poor areas and pawnbroker enabled families to borrow money

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8
Q

What emerged after 1933 and where?

A

Light industries like the production of household appliances grew in the South East of England and these more prosperous areas experienced a consumer boom.

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9
Q

What evidence is there that there was a consumer boom?

A

1930 - 200,000 vacuum cleaner sales a year - rose to 400,000 in 1938
300% increase in the sale of electric cookers between 1930 and 1935.

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10
Q

Why was there a wider variety of food in the 1920s-1930s?

A

Fresh fruit imported from abroad which improved diets - some believed that it was harmful to kids, most fruit still came in tins

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11
Q

How did food improve for he less affluent?

A

Late 1920s - 20,000 fish and chip shops in GB with fish at less than 2p and chips less than 1p.

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12
Q

Why were people able to move away from overcrowded inncer city areas to council houses?

A

1.1 million council houses built during interwar period, 90% were on new estates.

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13
Q

How did home ownership increase from 1914-1938?

A

1914 - 10% of population owned their home

1938 - 32% owned their own home

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14
Q

What fuelled the housing boom after 1937?

A

Off the gold standard, cut in interest rates fuelled housing boom as it wasn’t worth saving

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15
Q

Why was there the need for the gov to intervene directly in the supply of food, clothing and other essential items in WW2?

A

Germany sank GB shipping and resources needed to be diverted away from the civilian economy to the army

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16
Q

How did the bombing of GB cities affect living standards?

A

Destroyed homes, left people homeless

17
Q

How did rationing affect standards of living?

A

Ensured that the vast majority of people had the same limited access to food and resources, regardless of income.

18
Q

What accompanied restrictions on the allocation of food in the WW2 period?

A

By a government public information campaign which emphasised thriftiness - make do and mend as well as ideas to make food go further.

19
Q

What did people do as a result of rationing?

A

Subsistitues for normal foodstuffs - often unpleasant and unappetising. Lack of white flour = National Loaf - a grey looking bread agreed to be unpleasant to eat.

20
Q

When did restaurants become subject to rationing controls and what effect did it have?

A

1942 - only a limited amount of food they could serve and limited amount of meat and fish available.

21
Q

Why was restaurant food rationed in 1942?

A

To prevent resentment from working class households who saw wealthier people getting round the rationing controls

22
Q

Why could rationing be argued to be good for people’s living standards?

A

Food supplemented with vitamins and minerals by the Ministry of Food. The level of infant mortality fell during the war years, might account for post war baby boom.

23
Q

How did working conditions improve during WW2?

A

New jobs created for civilian munitions workers offered good pay and working conditions as a result of TU negotiations. Average pay for GB workers increased during the war

24
Q

How were women able to work during WW2?

A

Creches were established in the factories of many essential war industries. First were set up in November 1941 and within six months there were 667 set up.

25
Q

How did WW2 bombing affect living standards?

A

Deaths of 40,000 people + 2,000,000 homes bombed. Rural countryside not directly affected. PW era the destruction of Coventry and other areas gave the opportunity to rebuild and modernise cities.

26
Q

How was bombing beneficial for living standards in WW2?

A

Led to Taylor Walters Report which specified minimum space and number of rooms, and restricted building to twelve houses per acre. Better housing built in destroyed areas.