Changing quality of life for Britons

Question 1

What did the short-lived boom after WW1 fail to do?

Answer 1

It failed to generate the levels of high employment needed to absorb the large numbers of men demobilising from the Army

= caused an economic crisis and decline in living standards, which was exacerbated by the Great Depression of the 1930s

Question 2

Boom, 1918-20

Answer 2

• Towards the end of War, DLG promised ‘a land fit for heroes’ -> seemed initially achievable
• post-war boom which firms recalibrated for peacetime production
• prices continued to rise and gov. did little to regulate production
• initially demobbed soldiers returned to work and it seemed that living standards would rise and that families had money to spend

Question 3

By end of 1920, how many people were unemployed? What proportion of them were ex-servicemen?

Answer 3

1 million - 1/3 of them ex-servicemen

Question 4

In 1932, ___% of those engaged in electrical appliance were unemployed

Answer 4

12

Question 5

Percentage of those engaged in shipbuilding who were unemployed by 1932

Answer 5

70%

Question 6

What types of industry declined in the 1920s and 1930s?

Answer 6

heavy industry - e.g. ship building, production of coal, iron and cotton

Question 7

What did the decline of traditional industry lead to?

Answer 7

Widened the disparity between living standards in the poorest and wealthiest parts of the country in the 1920s and 1930s

Question 8

What were the unemployment rates in London and South East vs Wales at the height of the Depression in 1932?

Answer 8

London and South East: 11%

Wales: 40%

Question 9

What areas in Britain slumped during the Great Depression?

Answer 9

South Wales and coal fields, the ship-building regions of the Clyde and the Tyne and formerly busy ports like Liverpool

Question 10

What was a persistent factor in the lives of many unemployed families in depressed areas?

Answer 10

Hunger

Question 11

What did a 1933 survey conclude?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

When did real scientific understanding emerge about the effect of nutrition shortages and the causes of deficiency diseases?

Answer 12

during the 1930s

Question 13

examples of deficiency diseases

Answer 13

rickets

Question 14

Examples of foods that were rare for families in depressed areas

Answer 14

Meat and fresh vegetables

Question 15

Why were more working-class women on average more likely to go hungry than men when there was insufficient food to go around?

Answer 15

mothers would ensure their children ate first and men as the primary breadwinners would eat too = meant that women suffered disproportionately

Question 16

What staples made up most meals?

Answer 16

bread, margarine, and tea

Question 17

What household electrical appliances filled the homes of working-class families throughout the 1930s?

Answer 17

Washing machines, electric cookers and vacuum cleaners

Question 18

How did many poor working-class families manage to make ends meet?

Answer 18

by getting ‘tick’ from the local greengrocers and in poorer areas the local pawnbroker enabled families to borrow money

Question 19

In 1930, how many vacuum cleaners were sold a year?

Answer 19

200,000 a year

• 1938: 400,000

Question 20

Between 1930-35, there was an _____% increase in the sale of electric cookers

Answer 20

300%

Question 21

Why was there a growth in the sale of household electrical applicants?

Answer 21

greater number of homes electrified, many being built in new suburban housing estates = electricity had a significant effect in improving living standards

Question 22

By the late 1920s, how many fish and chip shops were there in Britain?

Answer 22

20,000

Question 23

Out of the 1.1m council houses built during the interwar period, what percentage of them were built on new estates?

Answer 23

90%

Question 24

Number of owner-occupiers in 1914 vs 1938

Answer 24

1914 - 10%

1938 - 32%

Question 25

What was the increase in home ownership the result of?

Answer 25

government policy

• decent new houses could be purchased from £450 in the London region and outside London a small bungalow could cost as little as £250
• older houses could be purchased for £125 in less affluent areas - less than the cost of a new small car

Question 26

Rationing in the interwar years

Answer 26

Rationing in the interwar years

Question 27

Creation of the Ministry of Food in 1940

Answer 27

involved 50,000 administrators - meant that nearly all foodstuffs, from meat and fish to dairy products and luxuries like coffee and chocolate were allocated by ration cards

Question 28

Other items apart from food that were rationed

Answer 28

clothing, soap, paper, fuel and kitchen utensils

Question 29

Why were restaurants subject to rationing controls in 1942?

Answer 29

to prevent resentment from working-class households who saw wealthier Britons getting round the rationing restrictions and eating well

Question 30

Why did many people in Britain feel that their health improved during the war despite the decline in living standards?

Answer 30

food was supplemented with vitamins and minerals by the Ministry of Food

• infant mortality also fell, which might account for the post-war baby boom

Question 31

Working conditions for men during WW1

Answer 31

large number of jobs created during the war for civilian munitions offered good standards of pay and working conditions as a result of negotiations with the trade unions

Question 32

What were established in order to allow women munitions freedom to work?

Answer 32

Crèches (child care centres) were established in the factories of many essential war industries

• the first were set up in November 1941 and within 6 months there were 647 creches that were either open or in the process of being set up

Question 33

Pre-war Taylor-Walters report

Answer 33

specified minimum space and number of rooms, and restricted building to 12 houses per acre

Question 34

Daily Mail response to Labour gov. being forced to introduce bread rationing after the end of the war (1946-48)

Answer 34

The general public hated it.

Question 35

When were clothing and wood rationed?

Answer 35

until 1949

Question 36

Why did the Labour gov. have little choice but to continue rationing as Britain was bankrupted by the war?

Answer 36

• 55% of British food was imported but Britain did not have the foreign currency reserves to pay for all the import reserves that were needed
• The USA ended Britain’s wartime financial lifeline in 1945, the Lend-Lease Agreement

Question 37

What overseas spending commitments impacted on spending at home?

Answer 37

• feeding parts of Germany that were under British control
• re-establishing British control in Asian countries like Malaya
• keeping men fighting in Greece
• Korean War

Question 38

% of Britain’s GDP that was dedicated to defence

Answer 38

23%

Question 39

Winter of 1946-47

Answer 39

extremely heavy snow - exposed the extent of Britain’s post-war fragility + had a significant effect on the quality of life for British people

• coal shortages for Britain due to depletion of coal stocks
• electricity supply to industry and homes was cut to 19hrs a day
• resulted in cold homes and unemployment
• 1/4 of britain’s sheep were lost, food reserves declined

Question 40

Response to food during the harsh winter of 1946-47

Answer 40

Canadian and Australian citizens began to post food parcels to British families

Question 41

Reason for the electoral defeat of labour 1951

Answer 41

due to the failure of the gov. to ensure food and energy distribution

Question 42

Response to the huge problem of homelessness caused by the destruction of homes in the war

Answer 42

Building of wooden pre-fabricated homes that quickly and cheaply assembled

Question 43

When were the lawn flats built?

Answer 43

Harlow, Essex, 1951