AffSoc - Social Developments

Question 1

How were living standards at the beginning of this period?

Answer 1

Infrastructure was badly run down/bombed and housing development was needed.
Rationing was still around
Mens wages were average £8.30/wk

Question 2

How were living standard improved during this period?

Answer 2

Pre-war slums cleared and new towns built - Harlow in Essex.
Wages increased to £15.35/wk
Massive increase in private savings.
Farmers did well as rationing ended..
Homeownership increased.

Question 3

What were some of the limitations of the improvements to living standards?

Answer 3

Shifts in population as slums were cleared meant traditional communities were broken up.
Council housing still outnumbered homeownership.

Question 4

What was the most obvious sign of affluence?

Answer 4

Increase in consumer goods - TV, washing machine, fridge and furniture.

Question 5

What payment scheme was introduced which increased consumerism?

Answer 5

Hire purchase - you can hire for a specific amount of time then return or pay the remaining amount at the end.

Question 6

What year was the Mini Cooper released?

Answer 6

1951 - throughout the 1950s Mini actually broke even because their cars were so cheap.

Question 7

How many households owned a TV in 1959?

Answer 7

32%

Question 8

What % of the population watched TV in the evening?

Answer 8

50%

Question 9

What did car ownership rise by 1957-1959?

Answer 9

25%

Question 10

How much money did Butlins make per week?

Answer 10

£60,000

Question 11

What percent of the population holidayed abroad?

Answer 11

2%

Question 12

How many new miles of road were built from 1957-63

Answer 12

1200

Question 13

What aspects of society were steadily retreating during this period?

Answer 13

Deferentialist and conformist attitudes were beginning to diminish.

Question 14

What %s of working class voters went Labour and what % of middle class voters went Cons?

Answer 14

65% Lab from working calss
80% Cons from middle class.

Question 15

What did Suez expose about the government?

Answer 15

Blatant lying and manipulation.

Question 16

What did the rise in the CND movement show?

Answer 16

It encouraged challenging authority, making Br seem more individualist.

Question 17

What was the satire boom?

Answer 17

1961 - Private Eye - 1962 That Was The Week That Was - 1963 Profumo Affair.

Question 18

What did critics think was holding back Britain, and who did they cite for this?

Answer 18

The ‘ruling elite’. The Cons PMs had all been from ‘The Establishment’.

Question 19

What was John Osborne’s role in popular media?

Answer 19

Late 1950s - Angry Young Men - Look Back in Anger

Question 20

What was the position of women at the start of this period?

Answer 20

Avg marriage age - 21
75% of women married.
1 in 5 women worked, instead paid a Family Allowance.

Question 21

What year was the Equal Pay for Female Teachers act passed?

Answer 21

1952.

Question 22

What aspect of society made life easier for women?

Answer 22

Consumerism

Question 23

When did Second Wave Feminism start?

Answer 23

Early 1960s.

Question 24

What was the general attitude towards immigration at this point?

Answer 24

Generally tolerated but largely disliked, however people admitted it was economically desirable

Question 25

What year was the Empire Windrush and how many West Indian immigrants did it carry?

Answer 25

1948 - 453

Question 26

How many people entered Br compared to how many people left in the 1950s?

Answer 26

670,000 in, 1.32M out.

Question 27

What was the revolution for girls and separately for boys that gave them more free time.

Answer 27

Labour-saving machines
No Nat Service - 1960 onwards.

Question 28

What did the Baby Boom cause?

Answer 28

5 million teens in 1959, 10% of the population.

Question 29

When and where was the large-scale conflict between the Rockers and the Mods?

Answer 29

1964 Brighton - 2 days of violence and rioting.