Social policy and social reforms of the IWYs 1918-1939; Flashcards
(23 cards)
women
-ROPA-1918-extended vote to women over 30, ratepayers or married to one.
-1919-sex disqualification act-allowed female MPs to stand for parl & enter most jobs & serve on juries.
-but by 1929-only 15 mps in the HoC were female & 1 cabinet member. -traditional attitudes prevailed.
-Baldwin’s equal franchise act -1928-extended voting right to all women, female voters outnumbered male by 2m-flapper vote.
-during WW1-1.7m W worked in industry-armaments, also in govt departments, farms, public transport & medical auxillary units or army nurses-200,000.
BUT male dominated TU’s-suspicious and hostile to female participation in ind - wages would be reduced.
-women received lower wages than male counterparts, apart from textile ind. -only ind. where skilled female work was found so earned same.
-often classified & paid as teenagers in union-negotiated dilution agreements to maintain existing wage levels.
-unions fought for higher ‘fam wage’ earned by male worker -responsible for fams so should earn more.
-continuitity w pre-war period–when men returned from war -restoration of pre-war practices act-dismissed 775,000 women from industry.
-1918 -no. of women in ind-35% but when men came back it reverted back to the pre-war figure of 27% in july 1920.
work in post war period
-by 1931 there were only 750,000 more women in work than 1911.
-growth of women in retail, offices & teaching.
-mainly clerical, service & light ind.
-encouraged independence & opps that were otherwise unavailable.
-informal ‘marriage bar’-in many professions e.g teaching, u had to leave work on marriage.
-work seen as temporary, main aim was caring for fam.
-1931- 69% of workforce under 35yrs old suggesting unmarried.
-m/c professions -v few women -only 116 female solicitors & 3000 doctors.
-tiny proportion went to uni-prejudice.
-domestic service declined after WW1 because of growth of affordable domestic appliances but 1 in 5 households still had one.
-govt training schemes facilitated domestic service -1931-still 1.3M women.
women in the family
-institution of marriage remained strong- got married younger than late victorian equivalents & only 6% ended in divorce.
-huge stigma towards children born out of marriage-faced legal/social discrimination.
-single motherhood
-birth rate declined substantially from 5-6 live births to 2.2. -W now had more time for leisure & work, less time dedicated to childcare.
by 1939 -birth rate -less than 1/2 what it was 50yrs before.
-although there was a decline in fam size there was an increase in the no. of households 8m-1911 to 10m-1931 -increased pressure for housing.
-poor housing-more impact on w/c women who had to spend most of the day living there.
-1918 -Marie Stopes -married love(sex & fam planning) sold 1M copies -readership-m/c.
-N.I health contributions left 15m mainly women and children uncovered-disastrous for health of w.c W.
-Elanor Rathbone introed idea of family allowances-1924-changed the payment from the father to mother.
-all forms of contraception condemned by church, govt & some doctors until late 1930’s, when govt allowed health centres to advise married women risk of health complications from further births.
-abortion-illegal-terrible consequences- 100-150,000 women died every yr from attempted abortions.
-divorce-stigmatised & had to prove adultery, but guardianship of children vested in mother & father jointly.
-law reform act 1935 -empowered married women to dispose of all her property as if she was single.
-life exp of women increased 55-1910 to 66-1938.
-infant morality delined but varied e.g 47 per thousand in SE but 138 in Wigan.
wages and spending
-money wages didn’t decline to desired extent by proponents of gold std. -general strike 1926 impressed employers sufficiently not to cut wages so fiercely & employers-TUC mond turner talks 1928 -understanding between capital & lab: stable wage rates in exchange for reductions in employ.
-declining prices-more than fall in wages, 1929-32 wages dropped by 4% but prices fell by 25%.
-between 1924-35 Real wages increased by 17%.
-cheap cons goods-housing, radios, books, magazines, cinema, cheap clothes, fish & chips, cosmetics holidays, affordable cars, gambling.
-heinz & kellogs-household names
rural workers
-suffered from probs affecting agriculture in IWYs
-prices of B agricultural products tripled during WW1 but in IWYs they fell back to pre-1914 levels & farming-heavily reliant on govt sub to stay afloat.
-income of farmers -up to 1/2 of contemporaries in urban Britain.
-NI only extended to farm workers-1936
-holidays w pay act didn’t cover them
-they experienced worst housing -1937 a narrow definition classified 55,000 rural homes as unfit for human habitation & rural council rents-high.
-arable farming of cereals suffered serious decline in SE
-farmers burdened w debt relied increasingly on fam labour, mechinisation & cut costs -wages & jobs fell, hrs increased
-dull village life -no cinemas/entertainment.
-many farm workers left countryside in search of urban work -25% decline in farm workers 1921-8. -would’ve been higher if there were more urban opps.
education
-fishers act & hadow report -limited by geddes axe & may committe cuts & retrenchment
-fisher -2M educationally qualified children denied places at grammar schls-fees.
-continuation schls for children over 14 wasn’t achieved
-schl age wasn’t raised to 15
-1920s-only 12% of children -education over 14.
-only 0.4% of children educated in elementary schls-uni.
poverty
-Rowntree’s investigations in York-1935 found 31% of the pop-poverty.
-causes-old age, sickeness, low pay, large fams & unemploy.
-but also existed independently of unemployment.
-1/2 of w/cs born in 1936 would live in poverty in 1st part of lives & old age due to fam poverty cycle.
-unemploy- ‘intractable million’1921- 2m, 1929-1.1m & 1933-3m. -underestimated as women often wouldn’t register as unemployed & many declined due to stigma of means test.
-caused emigration from wales to England & out of countryside, exacerbated poverty & poor social conditions. e.g in Jarrow nearly 80% were unemployed at 1 point.
-new ind -all in SE, west & midlands
regional variation -1/2 of m/cs lived in London & SE.
-90% of textile & 75% of steel output -located in 7 counties in north -decline of staple ind-meant these areas disproportionately affected.
-LT unemployed -27% of total unemployed in 1936.
M/Cs
-greatest increase in SoL-greater income, low prices, cheap money. (esp. in S.E).
-1914-1% of pop controlled 69% of wealth, 1920/30s fell to 60% controlled 55%. -greater wealth possessed by m/cs which had spending power to enjoy new consumerism.
-car use grew from 140,000-1914 to over 2 mil.
-growing m/c suburbia
housing
successful housing policies of Addison, Wheatley & greenwood increased supply of council housing- 1 mil built in IWYs & demolished slums. -but council rent remained high as govt subs-inefficient. -needed -weekly income £4 but 78% of fams received less than £4 per wk.
-cons & national govt cut subs & promoted private housing by private builders -accelerated by cheap money-1930s.
-start of IWYs-homes mainly rental -10% owner occupied, by 1939-31% owner occupied.
-end of 1930s -only 4% of homes suffered overcrowding but narrow definition.
-a min of rent controlled slums remained within housing available to workers
consumption and leisure
tobacco -by 1948- 80% of men and 60% of women smoked.
pubs-important relaxation-centres of social intercourse -20% of expenditure on entertainment in IWYs-spent on alc & tobacco.
but beer & spirits taxed from WW1 onwards -made it more expensive -slow decline in pub attendance.
gambling- increased-horse & greyhound racing, football pools. -1930’s the pools stood at £300-500 mil.
-18 mil attended greyhound races at new stadiums e.g walthamstow.
-greater opps for leisure/recreation
-reduction in working hrs to 6 a wk, growth of paid holidays. -over 1 mil had holidays in 1925, 4 mil in 1937.
-holidays with pay act 1938 meant over 11mil benefited from paid holidays in 1939. -in 1920s-only 1.5M paid hols.
-1930s - Blackpool-7M visitors annually, Butlins opened in 1937-promised 1 wks holdiay for 1 wks wages. -200 Butlins holiday camps across country.
-cinema-by 1939-5000 cinemas, main form of w/c entertainment, women usually attended twice a wk-could go unaccompanied by men. -903m admissions to cinemas by 1934.
-increased education -libs issued 54m books in 1911, in 1939-247m.
-daily mail/news of the world sold millions.
-but 16-22% of pop-illiterate
-women’s magazines e.g vogue-1916
-wireless radio-BBC began in 1922, radio liscenses rose from 36,000 in 1922 to 23m in 1939. -mainly informative/educational but some comedy & drama.
-but 3.5M poor households -no access to radio
overall
-all classes suffered losses, econ & staples suffered decline.
-aristocracy-agricultural land declined in value, death duties, domestic servants declined
-m/c rebelled against higher taxes
-w/c-slumps, deflation & unemployment- general strike-1926, crash-1929, perceived threat of communism, ‘hungry thirties’.
BUT- increased consumption/consumerism, relaxation of social, gender & sexual values, new industries, rearmament, new housing-council & normal.
-m/c and u/c experienced great improvements but w/c-80% of pop and many struggled were unemployed and poor, but many experience ISoL.
context
1M unemployed between 1921-38 & 1st 1/2 of 1930’s it never fell below 2M.
but men more likey to be unemployed than women & regional disparity e.g in london & south-below 10%, but Jarrow-above 60%.
-but large pools of poverty existed independent of unemployment e.g in 1936 in York unemployment only caused 1/3 of secondary poverty.
poor law in IWYs
-remained in place-1929, but after war knew was ineffective for mass unemployment
-ROPA 1918 removed the disqualification of voting that had attached to relief
-ministry of health act 1919 transferred control of it from local govt board to ministry of health, but local admin remained with the board of guardians-played a maj role in relief of unemployed-1920’s but relief depended on region.
Local Government Act 1929 abolished Boards & transferred their powers to local councils who had to appoint a PAC.
-between 1931-35 no. of ppl who received public assistance increased 155,658 to 542,075.
-poor law, ended w Unemployment Act 1934 which replaced the PACs with UAB which set standard–rate payments to eliminate regional variety.
unemployment
1918 -only 4/14M workers were insured
- unemployment act 1920-extended contributory unemploy insurance to all manual workers -w 3 months employ earning £250. -BUT ST unemploy 15s/wk 15wks & excluded agricultural workers, civil & domestic servants & no provision for dependants.
unemployed worker dependants act 1921- provisions for dependants 5s/wk -adult & children. But meagre!
- unemployment insurance act 1922 - split unemployed into covenanted & extended period of assistance & increased it to 20s/wk & uncovenanted- had exhausted benefit or hadn’t made contributions -subject to means test -demoralising, removed dignity -meant many chose not to claim.-1925-8 - 800,000 were denied benefits on the grounds they weren’t making ‘reasonable’ effort. -unemployed fund=in deficit & unemploy was worsening.
unemployment insurance act 1930 - abolished benefits test & set up lab exchanges instead to make sure they were actively seeking work.
unemployment inusrance act 1934 -covenanted -higher benefit -6 months, uncovanated -lower benefit designed for over 6 months unemploy but 2nd -means test -intrusive, controversial.
-18% denied benefits & 34% didnt recieve full amount.
national health insurance act 1937
extended healthcare provision to 14-16 yr olds
no. of ppl w healthcare insurance increased by 40%
no. of health visits increased by 70% & antnetal clinics increased by 200%
but limited/basic healthcare provision and nothing for depedants
public hospitals became associated w the poor & govt didn’t provide enough of them
healthcare -limited by regional disparity
old age contributory pensions
-old requirements of pensions were removed
-widows, orphans & old age contributory pensions act 1925 : pension of 10s/wk for a worker between 65-70 & £1 a wk for a married couple.
-BUT too small- it was estimated u needed 15s/wk to live on, obliged to seek help from PAC/UAB.
-non-contributory scheme available at 70 & subject to means test.
-contributory excluded nearly 1/2 of the relevant age group
-women dependant on husbands insurance status.
-showed how cons govt aware of probs & tried to implement reforms but were limited- still ideas of individualism & retrenchment.
education (general bad stats)
-education-wasted decades
-era of ‘missed opps’ and stagnation esp. in science & tech
-children now stayed on for longer (leaving age-12) so they removed provision for younger children.
-1900-10 no. of 3-5 yr olds in elementary education fell from 40% to 23%
-geddes wanted to raise schl entry age from 5 to 6 (failed)
-austerity measures limited speed of improvements to schl buildings.
-only 1 in 10 w/c children -secondary schl compared to 1/2 of m/c.
fishers act 1918 (not implemented)
act - raise schl leaving age to 14 & set up continuation schls for 14-16 yr olds, set up more nurseries for under 5s & abolish fees for public elementary schls.
-failed to implement due to austerity -may committee cuts & geddes axe.
-fishers act attracted opp from industrialists (fearing a loss of labour) , TUs (fearing a fall in w/c income) & local authorities (fearing greater responsibility).
-fisher 1918 said 2M educationally qualified children who could go to grammar schls but were excluded due to entrance fees that needed to be paid.
hadow report 1926 (ignored!)
aimed to create 2 sep secondary schls -grammar & secondary modern to better prepare children for their lives -national exam at age 11 would decide which was appropriate.
education (good stats - EVAL)
-increase in quality & no. of schools
-by 1935 -extra 1.75M schl places.
-5000 new schls built from 1910
-no. of poor elementary schls fell by 70%
-class sizes of over 50 pupils decreased by 90%
free school meals & health inspection
-introed legislation for provision of fsm & milk & medical inspection of children-but were financed by local govt rates & areas with the most need, couldn’t raise the rates-too poor.
-regional disparity
-rhonda in South wales-v poor -2/3 national average-medical inspections, 3 times on FSM & milk
-under 200,000 received FSM-1939.
-but 1939 3M children received free milk at school.
housing -w/c
1% to 10% -council homes 1914-37
- housing & town planning acts of addison 1919 -1st - gave councils power to build homes for w/c to rent but had to carry out surveys of housing need & then treasury would sub housing construction
- 2nd -15M given to private builders to build homes for owner occupation.
but terminated by geddes axe & absence of quantity,
1923 chamberlain -sub council housing 75,000 built in decade after, but it was too low -rents still unaffordable for workers
- wheatley’s 1924 -
- greenwood’s 1930 - 2nd lab govt - slum clearance -gave subs to local authorities to clear houses unfit for human habitation but only when arrangements had been made to rehouse the displaced ppl. But sub=too low & LAs preferred addison act so double addison more homes were built than ones to rehouse slum residents slum clearance didn’t really progress.
- rent control reformed in 1933 - just for w/c tenants, by 1937 44% of rented homes were covered.
- housing act 1935 - aimed to eliminate overcrowding but to access sub -too many requirements for LAs
housing for m/c
cheap money -low/2% IRs meant m/c would get cheap morgages -housing boom
1914- 15% to 35% in 1937 homes =owner occupied
