social change 1939-1964

Question 1

rising wages

Answer 1

between 1951-1963 wages rose by 72%
average prices rose by 45%
sales of consumer goods increased]items previously seen as luxuries became staple features in households such as televisions and music systems

Question 2

developments in credit and housing

Answer 2

Macmillan encouraged a ‘national housing crusade’ instructing local councils to aloow private contractors ot build more houses and abolishing Labour’s tax on land development
1953, 327,000 houses were constructed
Macmillan also increased the housing subsidy from £22 per home to £35 per home
however was not a new concept - council housing in inter war years

Question 3

race relations

Answer 3

increased migration from commonwealth after 1948 open door policy
people angry due to shortage of houses and labour causing tensions
mainly young men who hung around drinking - Notting Hill riots
Boarding houses and pubs refused to serve immigrants - “No coloured, no Irish, no dogs”
immigrants blamed for rise in crime and unemployment
little integration into society and people didnt believe that they would stay for long

Question 4

riots

Answer 4

notting hill riot was the 1st in Britain
triggered by an argument between an inter racial couple where other people got involved
riots to do with CND
Mods and rockers

Question 5

youth culture

Answer 5

rebelling against parents generations
Teddy boys and Mods and Rockers
moral panic of young generation blamed on working women
feeling of pointlessness - idea of imminent death with nuclear weapons and cold war

Question 6

women

Answer 6

working women still frowned upon
still dependent on men
taught domestic skills
1950 survey - 50% of women were bored
housewife register to connect lonely womem

Question 7

argument that Britain had “never had it so good”

Answer 7

never had so much freedom, even reflected in political satire
content on the surface

Question 8

arguments to counter Britain had “never had it so good”

Answer 8

discontent growing under the surface

Question 9

continuity for women

Answer 9

working mothers frowned upon
still not equal grounds for divorce
marriage bar remained for many jobs
most women didnt receive equal pay
low number of women in university
worked part time so they could look after home
womens magazines such as ‘Womans Weekly’ enforced traditional stereotypes
worked in subordinate roles
girls learnt domestic services
women under represented in HoC until Margaret Thatcher in 1970s
only 55% had labour saving devices such as washing machines

Question 10

change for women

Answer 10

contraceptive pill on sale in 1961
falling birth rate
late 19th century, avg woman spent 15 years looking after young children or pregnant, later was just 4 years
Mid 1950s equal pay began to be introduced in some industries
1944 marriage bar removed from some industries eg teaching
labour saving devices allowed more women to work
increase in clerical work and production lines as opportunities for female employment

Question 11

continuity for youth

Answer 11

majority of people preffered to do traditional things such as fish
most girls wore cardigans and modest clothing
average marriage age fell - not independent and rebelling

Question 12

change for youth

Answer 12

teenagers rebelled against the norms - Teddy boys and Mods and Rockers
mini skirts and drainpipe trousers became style
term teenager became common
teenagers left school at 15 and easily got employed and spent their own money eg at milk bars
american filmstars became role models
tensions between generations
heavily greased hair
pop music and rock and roll

Question 13

change for immigrants

Answer 13

immigration increase due to open door commonwealth policy
many came from carribean- windrush generation
1950s - 30,000 came/year
1960s - 60,000 came/year
brought new culture - food, music…
created hostility as working class though that immigrants were stealing their jobs
blamed for increasing crime rates
young men initially then families came to settle
Churchill wanted to “keep England white”

Question 14

continuity for immigrants

Answer 14

racism wasnt new - racism towards Irish people in Liverpool
pub windows said “no dogs, not irish, and no coloured”
not everyone was affected by immigration and didnt face any cultural change in some areas
immigration was not a new concept
british culture remained largely simalar

Question 15

was there a cultural revolution in britain after the second world war?

Answer 15

traditional view - big cultural change
revisionist view - continuity
more evolution than revolution