Social Developments

Question 1

Effects of the post war boom

Answer 1

Rising living standards
Access to credit through hire purchase
Housing improvements, clearance of slums
End of rationing, food prices low.

Question 2

Examples of housing improvements

Answer 2

New towns like Harlow, Kirkby, Stevenage, Crawley, Corby and Cwmbran.
Slums were cleared and replaced by these new towns
Access to cheap mortgages

Question 3

What was hire purchase

Answer 3

Where a buyer pays a deposit on an expensive item then they then pay monthly instalments to hire said item over the length of a contract.

Question 4

What did a growth in affluence enable

Answer 4

Leisure opportunities
An increase in TV ownership
More time and money to develop hobbies
Boom in car ownership

Question 5

Statistics highlighting affluence in this period

Answer 5

10 million TV sets in use by 1960
50% of the population watched TV in the evening
Car ownership rose by 25% between 1957 and 1959
60,000 people holidayed each week with Butlins.

Question 6

Class situation in 1951

Answer 6

Britain was in a deferential, conformist society with a respect for authority.
Class loyalties were strong, especially in elections.

Question 7

Class attitudes in the late 1950s

Answer 7

Shift in attitudes
Exposure of The Establishments old fashioned methods, suez crisis, scandals.
Rise of CND encouraged challenge to authority

Question 8

Factors influencing a decline in deference

Answer 8

Profumo affair
Satire boom
Academic studies (Hoggart - The uses of literacy 1957, Sampson - The anatomy of Britain 1961) highlighting Britain’s ‘class ridden’ society with a lack of social mobility
The ‘angry young mens’ political plays attacked conformist attitudes - Look back in anger 1956

Question 9

Perception of the ruling elite

Answer 9

Emphasised arts education in preference to science
Blocked talent from outside The Establishment
Tried to cover its own mistakes

Question 10

View of women in the 1950s

Answer 10

Ideally a housewife
Average marriage was aged 21
75% of all women married
Only 1 in 5 worked in 1951

Question 11

Improvements for middle class women

Answer 11

Equal pay for teachers (1952) and Civil servants (1954)

Question 12

Impact of labour-saving devices

Answer 12

1957-1959, the number of households with a fridge rose by 58% and with a washing machine by 54%
The adverts for these devices presented a women in the kitchen - lack of improvement

Question 13

What was the New Commonwealth

Answer 13

Countries who had recently gained independence from Britain - India, Pakistan, West Indies.
There started to be an inflow of immigrants from these countries arriving in Britain - in the wake of the Empire Wind Rush in 1948.

Question 14

How many immigrants had settled in Britain by 1958?

Answer 14

200,000

Question 15

Public attitudes to immigration

Answer 15

Mixed attitudes,
Some were generally tolerant and had a feeling of ‘getting along’
There were, however, many examples of racism, tension and hostility.

Question 16

Growth of outward migration

Answer 16

1.32 Britons left in the 1950s
1.96 million left in the 1960s
Job seeking, economic opportunities and housing opportunity drove them out.

Question 17

Notting hill riots and growth in racism

Answer 17

In August 1958 there were outbreaks of racially motivated violence in Notting hill, mainly white youths attacking West Indians, the police were unprepared and lacked experience.

Oswald Mosley set up the Union Movement on a platform for repatriation. ( returning someone to their place if origin)

Question 18

What was passed in 1962 to control immigration?

Answer 18

1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act - limited the number of immigrants allowed into Britain

Question 19

Why was their an emergence of a discernible youth culture? (5 Key reasons)

Answer 19

Booming economy - more disposable income for young people.
Growth of advertisement and consumerism created the teenage image.
Boys no longer had to take part in National Service after 1960.
Labour saving devices gave young women more freedom.
The post-war baby boom swelled the number of teenagers in the late 50s and 60s.

Question 20

What defined the ‘Teddy Boys’ and when were they prominent?

Answer 20

Early 1950s
The wore long coats, narrow trousers and winklepicker shoes
Challenged older people and social order through their dress sense and behaviour

Question 21

What defined the ‘Rockers’ and when were they prominent?

Answer 21

Late 1950s
Wore leather clothes and rode heavy motorcycles
Influenced by Rock music that reached Britain in 1955

Question 22

What defined Mods and when were they prominent?

Answer 22

Late 1950s

Wore smart suits, rode scooters and listened to ‘sophisticated’ pop music

Question 23

Mods and Rockers clashes and public reaction

Answer 23

Rioting in Margate and Brighton in May 1964 - fighting went on for 2 days with the police struggling to restore order
Moral panic for the public, believed they were undermining society
Public reactions exaggerated the levels of violence.

Question 24

Changing attitudes shown in pop culture

Answer 24

Racial tension and sex and violence in ‘Sapphire’
Gritty realism and themes of race and poverty in ‘Z Cars’
Homelessness and poverty in ‘Cathy Come Home’

Gang violence in the novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’

Question 25

Reaction to changing social attitudes in pop culture

Answer 25

Black lash against this ‘immorality and depravity’ led by Mary Whitehouse
Undermined decency in society
Majority opinion in Britain remained socially conservative

Question 26

Overview of social change

Answer 26

Greater affluence —> more consumerism and lifestyle changes
Less deference
New tech changes womens lives
Immigration and emigration changes Britain’s demography
Distinct and visible emergence of youth culture
Traditional attitudes questioned

Question 27

Overview of social continuity

Answer 27

Women were still primarily housewives
Many areas in Britain saw little immigration
Britain as a whole was still largely socially conservative