Life during the Depression

Question 1

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what was the ‘tale of two britains’?

Answer 1

when the negative impact of the depression was not evenly spread. Many people were barely surviving and were unemployed in areas like South Wales and North-East England but in the Midlands and London many people enjoyed higher wages, owned motor cars, went to the cinema and had longer holidays.

Question 2

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
can you describe the dole?

Answer 2

• it was for men who had been skilled workers who had to claim unemployment benefits
• the aim was to give those who were unemployed some financial support
• provided 39 weeks of benefits

Question 3

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
can you describe the means test

Answer 3

• began in 1931
• designed to control the amount of dole paid to a family
• families with savings or small additional income had their dole reduced

Question 4

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
why was the means test unpopular?

Answer 4

• many claimed it was more focused on the government trying to save money
• people hated the inspectors going through their belongings and forcing them to sell some of them
• it was humiliating

Question 5

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what were hunger marches for?

Answer 5

a traditional way for people to express their concerns about living/working conditions that drew public attention to the sufferings of some areas

Question 6

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
Can you describe the Jarrow Hunger March?
a) causes
b) what happened
c) achievements
d) limitations

Answer 6

a) mass unemployment. Unemployment rose from 3245 in 1929 to 7178 in 1933. Palmers ship yard laid off many workers.

b) 200 men marched from Jarrow to London, led by MP Ellen Wilkinson. they had a positive reception - free meals, free shoe repairs etc. However in London they received little sympathy from the government.

c) petition was presented to the house of commons. Men returned as heroes and there was lots of public support.

d) PM Stanley Baldwin ignored the petition and refused to comment on it.

Question 7

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
when was the Jarrow hunger march?

Answer 7

october 1936

Question 8

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
can you describe the hunger marches from Rhondda?

Answer 8

-14th october 1932
- nationwide march to london with 2500 men in total
- to deliver a petition to parliament asking for the abolition of the means test and ending of 10% reduction to unemployment benefits
- backed by labour party but achieved little

Question 9

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
how did families ‘make ends meet’?

Answer 9

• families of the unemployed ate a lot of bread and sugar but little meat and vegetables
• National Insurance only covers the worker so women often weren’t covered by medical insurance due to losing jobs first
• from 1931 to 1935 the death rate for women aged 15-30 was more than twice as high in some areas of unemployment
• average income of the unemployed family was £1.46

Question 10

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what was self-help?

Answer 10

• neighbours rallied around in a time of crisis and clubs for the unemployed were set up by the church and mayor’s funds
• british library organised a National Book appeal for the unemployed

Question 11

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
can you describe emigration from Wales?

Answer 11

• between 1921 and 1938 approximately 440,000 people left Wales to find a better life elsewhere
• the population of Rhondda fell by 18%
• the new light engineering and car manufacturing areas of the Midlands saw an influx of Welsh people which had a significant impact on Welsh culture/language

Question 12

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what was the impact of radio and cinema?

Answer 12

• accessible forms of entertainment helped raise the morale of the public and also offered a sense of escapism
• by 1937, 50% of british households had a radio
• by 1934 there were over 320 cinemas in Wales and by 1936 there were 1000 million admissions per year in the UK

Question 13

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
define the special areas act

Answer 13

a key approach introduced by the government to provide help for the areas worst hit by the depression

Question 14

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what did the special areas act of 1934 bring in?

Answer 14

it offered £2 million to companies that would move to the worst hit areas of unemployment in NE and NW England and South Wales

Question 15

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what did the special areas act of 1936 bring in?

Answer 15

offered cuts in rent to taxes and businesses.

Question 16

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
(special areas act) what happened by 1938? why was this negative?

Answer 16

by 1938, about £8.5 million had been spent but only 121 new firms had set up, creating 14,900 jobs.
small industrial estates could not replace the coalmining or ship-building industries.

Question 17

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
when was the Treforest Industrial estate established?

Answer 17

June 1936

Question 18

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what was the aim of the Treforest Industrial estate?

Answer 18

to provide some alternative forms of employment to the coal and steel industries

Question 19

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
how many workers were working at the treforest industrial estate by 1939? What did this grow to in 1945?

Answer 19

1939 = 2,500 workers
1945 = 16,000 workers

Question 20

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
can you give some advantages and disadvantages of the growing light industry in britain?

Answer 20

advantages:
- electricity began to replace coal as the new fuel supply
- provided many jobs for the unemployed

disadvantages:
- the growing light industries could not replace the employment rates of the heavy industries because they were smaller
- too many people had lost their jobs and the new industries could not take them all

Question 21

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
what is an example of one of the growing light industries?

Answer 21

electrical things e.g. radios, motorcars

Question 22

LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
was South Wales one experience? why?

Answer 22

no because areas like Merthyr and Pontypridd were crime-ridden and may have had slum housing while places like Cardiff had hundreds of private houses built for the wealthy middle class.