Lecture 7: Post-War British Society – Never having it do good?

Question 1

1960s =

Answer 1

decade with a mythological status in popular memory, stereotyped impression of “swinging sixties”

Question 2

Harold Macmillan

Answer 2

PM 1957-63 – “let’s be frank about it. Most of our people have never had it so good”

Question 3

Economic Conditions:

Period of economic boom:

Answer 3

• Most importantly period of economic boom – booming global economy in 50s – became a decade remembered for affluence and consumption
• Economic upturn following end of Korean War – ensured 1950s remembered as a decade of affluence and consumption
• Unemployment rarely moved beyond 3% between 1945 and 1975
• Impact of new prosperity evident as it came after the restrictions of WW2 – came after rationing, shortages
• Peter Clarke – average weekly earnings rose by 50%
• 1964 – annual weekly rages rising at double rate of prices
• Tight labour market – almost everyone able to find a job

Question 4

Rise in consumption:

Answer 4

• Rise in consumption – story of the 1950s = the spread of the TV, Queen’s coronation televised, event in which lots of people had first watched the TV, 27 million – national record, 1955 = over 4 million TV licences – at end of 1960s 9 out of 10 households had TV licence
• Leisure booming – cinema to tv

Question 5

House Building:

Answer 5

• Increase in house building (both private and council)
• Important, 1951 election Conservatives promised new housing
• Houses in 1950s significant
• Houses presented as new and exciting – specific to the 1950s

Question 6

Parallels to interwar period:

Answer 6

• Concerns about poverty and unemployment
• Concerns about new suburban living
• 1966 – TV drama ‘Cathy Come Home’ about homelessness – follows fortunes of fictional young family – raise awareness about homelessness
• JB Priestly – third England – lost soullessness and community
• Richard Hoggart – the uses of literacy – echoed Priestley’s concerns – spoke about Jukebox boys as not having the communities
• George Orwell – concerned about poverty

Question 7

1960s – rediscovery of poverty:

Answer 7

• Relative poverty over absolute poverty
• Argued poverty not just economic issue but led to social deprivation
• Rediscovery because this was after the welfare state – raised doubts about how successful the welfare state was in dealing with poverty
• Poverty concentrated in those that were must vulnerable

Question 8

1960s permissiveness:

Answer 8

• Permissive decade associated with legislation passed by labour government
• Permissive revolution doesn’t simply apply to legislative reform but also to changing social attitudes

Question 9

Legislation: 1959 Obscene Publications Act

Answer 9

amended censorship laws

Question 10

Legislation: 1961 Suicide Act

Answer 10

suicide decriminalised in 1961

Question 11

Legislation: 1965 Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act

Answer 11

death penalty abolished in 1965

Question 12

Legislation: 1965 First Race Relations Act

Answer 12

race relations acts

Question 13

Legislation: 1967 Sexual Offences Act

Answer 13

only referred to men, important milestone in progressive attitudes, decriminalised (but did not legalise) homosexual acts in private

Question 14

Legislation: 1967 Abortion Act

Answer 14

mothers mental health taken into account, abortions up to 20 weeks legal on mental grounds, previously only allowed abortions based on mother’s physical health

Question 15

Legislation: 1967 Family Planning Act

Answer 15

• allowed doctors to give family planning advice and provide contraceptives

Question 16

Legislation: 1968 Theatres Act

Answer 16

– amended censorship laws

Question 17

Legislation: 1968 Representation of the People Act

Answer 17

lowered voting age from 21 to 18

Question 18

Legislation: 1969 Divorce Reform Act

Answer 18

after 1969 consenting adults allowed to divorce on any grounds after 2 years, and after 5 years only one party needed to consent, number of divorces increased as a result

Question 19

Young People:

Answer 19

• Assumed a different social and economic position
• Number of unmarried people rose by a million
• Economic conditions saw wage rise of adolescents by about 50%
• Concept of teenager – rise of school leaving act = 16 in 1969
• Era of the young – recognised by politicians e.g. voting age lowered – recognising young people being more important
• Voting age lowered to 18 in 1968 – young people seen as being important constituents
• New affluence and new techniques of mass marketing helped to define the image of the teenager
• Advertising addressed to teenagers
• New economic liberalisation of youth reflected by new subcultures – personal liberation from traditional morals especially regarding sexual behaviour
• Pop music = integral part of teenager’s lives, pop personalities
• Music = central
• New sexual freedom
• Some young people identified as part of a sub culture, e.g. teddy boys, hippies and mods and rockers

Question 20

BUT: (NOT ALL POSITIVE CHANGES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE)

Answer 20

• Many within conservative adult world were not supportive of new idea of youth revolt
• Posed challenge to traditional morals
• Clash of mods and rockers in Brighton
• Increased crime rate, steepest amongst teenagers
• No radical change in values and behaviour – challenging popular image that is presented
• Vast majority still wanted to marry – and many wanted to remain virgins before marriage
• Youth culture prominent because of demographic shifts
• 4% of population went to university – no student experience

Question 21

Women:

Answer 21

• New liberation for women
• Legal and political situation improved
• 1960s saw better economic position for women
• Economic position of women improved – move in to the workplace without stigma
• Increased pressure for reform in the 1960s
• 1970 Equal Pay Act – abolished differences in pay
• 1975 Sex Discrimination Act – illegal for employers to discriminate on grounds of gender
• In the home, new ideals were being put forward regarding relationship between husband and wife – symmetrical family – more equal relationship between husband and wife
• Women targeted by mass advertising – traditional role as manager of household
• Women could spend money in their own right – fashion and cosmetics
• Women able to assert increased sexual independence – sex increasingly seen as being something that could be more openly discussed and sexual explicitness’s in advertising
• Contraceptive Pill launched 1961 but only available for married women, freely available in 1967 to all women
• Family Planning Act and Abortion Act – legislation that helped women
• Loosing of strict sexual morality in society
• Lady Chatterley’s lover = landmark decision, evidence of permissive 60s – penguin books successful in overturning ban of the book – lifting of government-imposed censorship and public desire to read such material

Question 22

BUT: (NOT ALL POSITIVE CHANGES FOR WOMEN)

Answer 22

• Adverts and products often focussed on female body – not a great development for women
• Lady Chatterley – female object of male desire – feminist criticism
• Traditional family more popular than ever – childbirth more common amongst women
• Marriage rates went up as did divorce rates
• People getting married younger
• Women targeted for advertising but mainly for the benefit of men – emphasis on body
• Even if women did gain greater freedom they were still restrained

Question 23

Conclusion of 1960s:

Answer 23

• Economic boom = crucial
• For many = period of affluence
• Economy had massive effect on young people – fuelling youth culture and enabled women to move into the workplace
• Didn’t include everybody – not everybody welcomed developments

Question 24

Harold Macmillian

Answer 24

Prime Minister 1957-63

“Lets be frank about it. Most of our people have never had it so good”

Question 25

Economic Conditions:

Answer 25

Boom Years 1953-55; 1958-60
Unemployment rarely roe above 3% 1945-75
Nearly 250,000 houses built 1948
Conservatives promised 300,000 a year, achieved 1953-1958
1960, 14.2% families living in relative poverty

Question 26

Leisure:

Answer 26

Cinema attendances peaked 1,635 million in 1946
764,000 TV licenses in 1951
4m in 1955
10m in 1960
Nearly half all homes had no bathroom in 1950

Question 27

1960s Permissiveness

Answer 27

Most legislation passed under Harold Wilson - Labour MP 1964-70

Question 28

When was the obscene publications act?

Answer 28

1959

Question 29

When was the Suicide Act?

Answer 29

1961

Question 30

When was the Murder Act?

Answer 30

1965

Question 31

When was the First Relations Act?

Answer 31

1965

Question 32

When was Sexual Offences Act?

Answer 32

1967

Question 33

When was the Abortion Act?

Answer 33

1967

Question 34

When was the Family Planning Act?

Answer 34

1967

Question 35

When was the Second Race Relations Act?

Answer 35

1968

Question 36

When was the Theatres Act?

Answer 36

1968

Question 37

When was the Representation of the People Act?

Answer 37

1968

Question 38

When was the Divorce Reform Act?

Answer 38

1969

Question 39

Young People:

Answer 39

Number of unmarried people aged 15-24 rose by 1m between 1950-60
Real wages of adolescents rose by about 50%
1969: school leaving age raised to 16
Mods and Rockers clash in Brighton, 1964
1959: Ablemarle Committee: advertising addressed to teenagers
M. Schofield: The Sexual Behaviour of Young People (1965) - “Vast majority young people wanted to marry and expected faithfulness and that the majority wanted to marry virgins”

Question 40

Acts relating to women:

Answer 40

1970 Equal Pay Act

1975 Sex Discrimination Act