social conditions Flashcards
summarise the extension of the franchise for men and women
number of women in parliament- what allowed for them to stand in parliament
ROPA 1918- extended the vote to women over 30 who were middle class ratepayers or married to one
Baldwin’s Equal Franchise Act-1928- extended voting rights to all women and female voters which outnumbered the male franchise by 2 millions (the flapper vote)
-1929- only 2.3% of the commons was female (15MPs), and only one in the cabinet- sex disqualifcation act of 1919, which did not culminate with complete sexual equality for men and women
provide stats for the number of women in the working world and what industries
during the war and after the war
what was the impact of the restoration of pre war practices act
what is the significance of work for females
-during ww1 1.7 million women worked in industry, armaments, to replace males fighting in the war
-250,000 in farms, 200,000 in public services or as army nurses
-after the war- the number of women in industry (35%) in 1918 reverted back to the prewar figure of 27% in july 1920
-PWPA led to the dismissal of 775,000 women
however- there was growth of female employment in the retail sector, in offices and teaching- by 1931- 29.8% of the labour force was female, a negligible increase from 29.5% in 1921
-69% was under 35 indicating that most were unmarried or without children
-work as a collective experience can shape behaviour and attitudes- encouraging independence and providing opps otherwise unavaliable
summarise improvement for women in the iwys
- women did move into work particularly in the retail sector, so did experience relative improvement in comparision to the previous period- however despite legal changes traditional attitudes prevailed
why was the image of independent and assertive flapper a myth
-link to marriage and divorce rates
-views on cohabitation
-views on work
-this image came about due to a dialy mail campaign, it was media sensationalism - the institution of marriage remained very strong, women married younger than their late victorian equivalents and only 6% of marriages ended in divorce
-cohabitation was considered living in sin
-vast majority of women saw their life in marriage which involved the care of family and the ending of work- work was viewed as temporary
what changes in birth rate were there and what were the impacts of this
-birth rate declined substantially and with it family size, in the Victorian period women had 5-6 live births but by the 1920s they had 2.2
-by 1939 the birth rate was less than half of what it was 50 year prior
-27.5% of couples had 5 or more children in 1919 but by 1940 this had declined to 11.2%
-women now had decades ahead after the birth of her two children and in this time she could potentially take up work and leisure
-had an impact on housing, poverty and the lives of women
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at what rate was greater work and leisure opportunities for women
-work stats part 2- not percentages and number of women in professional roles , marriage bar impact
-uneven and slowly achieved due to attitudes and gender roles and the cost of living
-by 1931 there weere 6.25 million women at work, only 750,000 more than 1911, many clerical
-many professions including teaching, civil service and banking practised an informal marriage bar in breach of the 1919 sex discrimination act
-1935- 116 female solicitors and nearly 3000 doctors
-a tiny number of women went to university and prejudice remained very much alive - cambridge refused full membership of women until 1948
domestic service industry in the iwys
- domestic service declined after ww1, to the horror of the daily mail who campaigned for its return
1 in 5 households still had a live in servant despite growth in industrial products such as vacuum cleaners- 400,000 in 1938
-in 1931 there were 1.3m women and 75,000 men in domestic service
did national insurance (sickness) cover women and children
what was the state of taxes for the middle classes and aristocracy in the iwys
- the NI health provisions of 1911 covered 20m in 1938 however this still left 15m uncovered, mostly women and children under 5 which had detrimental impacts to the health of working class women
-middle classes paid the lowest proportion of their incomes in taxes whilst the aristocracy had to endure the replacement of their social season with a few months in Belgravia
what was Elanor Rathbone know for
-she was elected as an independent in 1929 and she introduced the idea of family allowances in 1924 and fought for its inclusion in the lab govts 1945 social reforms
what were the attitudes of the government and church to contraception and what impact did this have
-number of illegal abortions
-all forms of contraception were condemned by the church and government policy until the later 1930s when the govt allowed health centres to advise married women at the risk of health complications from further births
-abortion was illegal
-100,000-150,000 women every year died from illegal abortions /complications of abortion
what legal reforms were there for women and at what speed did these develop
how did legal reform help middle class women
-divorce
- at glacial speed, rested largely on proving adultery, but guardianship of children was granted to both mother and father
-the Law Reform Act of 1935 completed victorian legislation by empowering a married women to dispose of all her property as if she was single - however this only applied to middle class women
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what were living standards like for the bulk of the population and why- what was the most important reason
identify stats about wages, prices and real wages between 1924 and 1935
-for the bulk of the population living standards improved, however this was with the exception of the unemployed and rural farm workers- this was because britain experienced declining prices, relatively cheap consumer goods and most importantly the decline in money wages was far less than the decline in prices
-money wages did not decline to the extent desired by proponents of the gold standard
-general strike meant wages were not cut so severely
-even in the worst years 1929-32 real wages dropped by an average of 4% whilst prices fell by 25%
-between 1924-1935 real wages rose by 17%
what was the life expectancy of men and women in 1910 compared to 1939
-for women life expectancy increased from 55 in 1910 to 66 in 1938
-for men it increased from 52 to 61 for the same years
infant mortality declined but outline regional variations
-in the south east there were 47 deaths per 100,000
-68 in the north
-73 in harrow
-138 in wigan
-134 in rhondda and south wales
what happened to agricultural prices after the war and what was the impact
-after the war agricultural prices fell back to their pre 1914 levels and farming became heavily reliant on government subsidies
why were rural workers worse off than their urban counterparts- outline 4 reasons
-housing explain - what type of housing did they live and what was the impact of this
-NI and holidays
-the wages of rural workers was half of their urban counterparts, urban workers could be paid 55s a week whilst rural workers were only paid 33s per week
-national insurance was only extended for farm workers in 1936 and at a lower rate of benefit
-The Holidays with Pay Act 1936 did not cover them
-they experienced the worst housing in terms of size, age, repair and sanitary condition
- by 1937 a narrow definition meant that 55,000 rural homes were unfit for human habitation
-rural council rents were high and just over 3000 rural homes lacked internal water supply
-many lived in tied housing (housing tied to their job) meaning they faced a very uncertain future when they stopped working for their landlord/employer
identify 3-4 reasons why rural workers migrated to urban areas and how many migrated
-arable farming of cereals suffered serious decline in the SE
-farmers burdened with debt had to rely on family labour
-wages and jobs fell
-hours increased and there was a lack of decent housing
-dull village life - lack of entertainment and leisure ops
-there was a 25% decline in farm workers between 1921 to 1938 , number would have been higher had there not been
what percentages of poverty were experienced in Britain
what did Rowntree find
-Rowntrees investigation in York in 1935 found that 31% of the working class population lived in poverty
-10% rates were found in London,Bristol and Liverpool
Rowntree found that poverty arose independently of unemployement
-he also found that half of the working class cohort born in 1936 would live in poverty the and first and most important part of their lives - family poverty cycle
was the pension increased and did this have an impact on poverty
- the pension was increased to 10s per weak for a single person and to £1 per week for a married couple
-it remained below the poverty line and additional resources were necessary for families to remain above the poverty line
outline unemployment statistics and what was this nicknamed
eval these stats
-pigou described unemployment as the intractable million
-in 1921 2 million were unemployed
-in 1929- 1.1 million, 3million in 1933
-these figures are often underestimated as women would often not register as unemployed and many declined to do so because of the stigma of the means test
outline regional variations in GB and what conclusions can be drawn from this about living standards
-half of all the middle classes lived in London and the SE
-half of britains coal, 90% of textile output and 75% of steel production was located in the 7 counties in the north
-shipbuilding was located in the NE and NW so town like maryport and jarrow - suffered unemployment more than double the average
-in wigan one in three men were unemployed and practically half of the population in glasgow was unemployed in the 1930s
what sub categories were there for the unemployed and how may were in each one
-short term, long term and youth
-long term unemployment figures rested at 300,000 in the 1930s and rose to 500,000 in 1933
-27% of the total unemployed in 1936
what living standards did the middles classes experience during the IWYs
-what happened to the spread of wealth
-the middle classes achieved the greatest affluence in the IWYs - they had improved living standards, low rices and access to cheap money
-they made up half of the SE and London
-in 1914 1% of the population possessed 69% of wealth which had fallen to 60% and 55% by the 1920s and 1930s
-the middle classes had spending power and resources to enjoy the new consumerism
-car use grew from 140,000 in 1914 to over 2 million privately owned vehicles
how did housing tenure change in the iwys
at the start of the iwys, housing tenure was largely rental- only 10% of homes were owner occupied
by 1939- 31% of homes were owner occupied
