society 1914-1939

Question 1

the Addison Act 1919

Answer 1

LG coalition
aim: clear slums and build 800,000 new homes
successes: 170,000 new homes
made housing a government responsibility
failures: way below target due to Geddes axe

Question 2

the Wheatley Act 1924

Answer 2

Labour
aims: money from state to local authorities increased from £6 to £9/house/year for 40 years instead of 20
successes: benefitted working class
500,000 built by 1933
failures: labour gov didn’t last long, not enough houses built

Question 3

the greenwood act 1929

Answer 3

Labour
aims: renewed subsidy for council - houses building and sped up clearing of slums
successes: created many jobs
over 700,000 houses were built
4/5 of slum dwellers re-housed
failures: act was suspended between 1931-1934 due to economic struggles

Question 4

summary of housing

Answer 4

over 1 million council houses built
3 million built by private sector
housing was good quality - many had electricity and open fires
1/3 of poorest families had a hot water supply
2/3 had gas cookers

Question 5

fishers act 1918

Answer 5

co alition
aims: raised school leaving age to 14
free places for bright cildren in secondary schools
teachers wages were increased
successes: gave working class children more opportunities
failures: relegated under Geddes Axe - more pressing war issues

Question 6

the haddow report 1926

Answer 6

Baldwin
aims: division in education between primary and secondary schools should come at age 11. 11+ exam determine whether they went to grammar schools or secondary modern
failures: bigger divide as rich families could pay for tutors. most local authorities didnt adopt
successes: laid down roots for future
became national law in 1944

Question 7

Pensions reform 1919

Answer 7

LG coalition
aims: doubled amount of pensions to 20 shillings as it was previously below the poverty line
could be claimed at 70
labour gov further increased in 1924
successes: above the poverty line and set tone
failures: many people didn’t live to be 70

Question 8

the widows and orphans and old age pensios 1925

Answer 8

Baldwin
aims: employers, employee and state paid in. 10 shillings a week from 65
successes: more protection
failures: forced savings
not that generous

Question 9

contributory pensions act 1924

Answer 9

Labour
aims: both employee, employer and state paid into pension
pensioner got 10 shillings a week from 65
failures: forced savings not genuine government support
not that generous

Question 10

the tuberculosis act 1921

Answer 10

LG
aims: county and borough councils had to provided Sanatoria care and after care to tuberculosis patients. patients put in hospital to stop spread
successes: provided some support
failures: didn’t fix or cure it
more isolation not treatment

Question 11

the dawson report 1920

Answer 11

LG
aims: hospitals should be linked into a single system - outlined NHS
successes: recognised best means of maintaining health and curing disease should be made available to all citizens
failures: expensive, took 30 years

Question 12

local government act 1929

Answer 12

Baldwin
aims: ended poor laws
replaced by public assistance committees run by local authorities and funded by central government
successes: realised victorian idea was outdated increased government responsibility
failures: expensive

Question 13

unemployment act 1920

Answer 13

LG
aims: covered those earning less than £250 per year which was majority of workforce claimed at 15 years
successes: family covered
15 shillings for man, 12 for women
failures: unequal between men and women
some trades were excluded

Question 14

unemployment insurance act 1921

Answer 14

LG
aims: ‘unconventional benefit’ - no worker contribution - dole
benefits were means tested
successes: government helping
failures: depression caused more unemployment - more benefits
invasive

Question 15

unemployment act 1924

Answer 15

Labour
aims: increased unemployment benefit and made payment continuous
removed 6 week block patterns
work or maintainance
successes: more generous
failures: had to contribute more
reduced incentive for people to get jobs

Question 16

unemployment act 1927

Answer 16

Baldwin
aims: ended distinction between covenanted and uncovenanted benefits
benefits unlimited for people seeking work
contribution from waged was higher
successes: became widely accepted that it was states responsibility to look after unemployed long term
failures: expensive for gov
had to contribute more
no incentive

Question 17

unemployment act 1934

Answer 17

national gov
aims: 10% cut from 1931 reversed
PACs replaced by unemployment assisstance board
rate paid by UABs was less than PACs
Protests broke out in mining areas
failures: people didn’t like UABs

Question 18

change for women

Answer 18

Representation of the People Act 1918- gave married women over 30 the vote and by 1928 Equal Franchise Act, they were on equal terms with men
92/ 142 constituencies supported the right of women to vote
3.3 million women worked during the war – more then any other European country
Sex Disqualification Act 1919 – women could be doctors and treat men
Flapper movement
1930, Church of England approved contraception
Overall, attitudes towards women were beginning to change, contrasting pre-war attitudes of politicians such as Lord Curzon and Asquith who thought that women were “hopelessly ignorant of politics”

Question 19

continuity for women

Answer 19

Restoration of pre war practices act – significant job losses for women – over 25% of working women had to return to domestic service
‘Homes fit for heroes’ slogan – implies reconstructing familt life post war, wanting women to return to pre war domestic role
By the 1930s, 1/3 of women over 15 worked, mainly in domestic service. Only 1/10 of married women worked
‘Home Chat’ and ‘Womens Weekly’ magazines enforced traditional stereotypes, publishing romantic stories aimed at women
Only 5% of MPs were women
Britain was behind on the times of emancipating women
1919 Sex Disqualification removal act allowed employers to maintain discriminatory practices such as the marriage bar
Nancy Aster – first woman in Parliament – said that the first 5 years were hell

Question 20

changing morals

Answer 20

Nightclub culture began to develop
The 1920s saw the biggest growth in concert halls, theatres, cultural places in British history.
‘roaring twenties’
A broader cross-section of women, other than the very rich and the “indecent,” began to smoke in the 1920s, and over the past 50 years tobacco advertising has linked smoking with women’s emancipation and achievement of equality with men (80% of men and 40% of women smoked).

Question 21

moral continuity

Answer 21

PM Macdonald’s slogan “No More Monkeying” and PM Baldwin’s 1929 slogan “safety first” illustrates the attitude of the time characterised by social conservatism and maintaining the status quo rather than turning to more radical economic solutions.
There was concern that exposure to certain forms of popular culture could lead to moral decline and a departure from societal norms, particularly as women now had money to spend.
One piece of 1928 legislation banned Radclyffe Hall’s lesbian novel ‘The Well of Loneliness.’
‘Flapperdom’ was not the norm. The changes in fashion and culture only affected younger and more middle class women. Working class and older women tended to stick to more traditional roles in the home, being less likely to work.
There was a fall in the birth rate that resulted in a reduction of the demands on the average family’s income. Despite this, the government actually tended to discourage birth-control and family planning.
The surge in crime rates, and the label of PM Macdonald’s government as the “National Government of starvation” indicate a nation in a state of contradictions and inconsistencies.

Question 22

was there extensive social change in this period?

Answer 22

Britain during the years 1914-1939 was in a time of transition.
Some Victorian social and cultural conventions were lost, with much of its industry, its housing and its social conditions.
Despite the popular image of the 1930s as a period of “black years”, “mass unemployment” and “appeasement”, most English people had a better standard of living, with higher real wages, shorter hours and longer holidays.
Significant social reform improved the lives of the working class and made alleviating poverty more of a state responsibility
Attitudes towards women were beginning to change, but only the minority actually existed as independent women and many still relied on men.
Political representation changed as workers got more represented

Question 23

rise of cinema

Answer 23

80% of glasgow went at least once a week