Social developments 1914-1939 Flashcards
What occurred as a result of a fall in prices between 1918 - 1938
Increase in real wages
Greater variety of fresh food
Consumption rose 88% for fruit, 64% for vegetables and 46% for eggs
What prepackaged goods became available
Kellogg’s, Heinz and Bisto
Working class foods
Sweets, sugar, white bread, tinned foods
Percentage of food in the working class budget
Only 35% in 1938, a decrease from 60% in 1914
What did the working class spend their excess money on
Household goods like radios
Newspapers
Leisure, as working hours were falling
What leisure activities did spending increase in
Gambling, drinking and smoking
What percentage of the population was said to be in primal poverty
7%
Seebohm Rowntree
Investigated poverty in York
Percentage of total population found in poverty
18%
What was the regional division
South and Midlands were prosperous, whereas, North and West were worse off
Jarrow (North-East) unemployment rate in 1934
68%
Merthyr Tydfil (South Wales) unemployment rate in 1934
62%
St Albans (South East) unemployment rate
3.9%
Unemployment in staple industries
Far worse than the national average
Unemployment in coal in 1932
41%, compared to the national average of 23%
Unemployment in shipbuilding in 1932
59.5%, compared to national average of 22.9 %
National average of unemployment in 1932
22.9%
National average of unemployment in 1938
13.3%, decrees from 22.9% in 1932
Why did the staple industries suffer
They were inefficient and overstaffed
There was poor investment
Jarrow March 1936
A group of 200 men decided to march to London to demand the building of a new steel works after the closure of Palmer’s shipyard
How was the Jarrow March a success
It gained mass national coverage
Petition signed by 11,000
Steelworks opened in 1939
What areas of the country grew
Population in London and Coventry doubled
Population change of the East 1931-39
10.6% increase
Population change in Wales 1931-39
4.9% decrease
How did literature change
Highly critical of prewar institutions
D.H. Lawrence
Wrote The Rainbow which featured strong sexual content
Books with socialist messages
George Orwell’s ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ in 1937
Increase in divorces
2800 in 1921-25 increased to 7500 in 1936-40
Decrease in child births per 1000
190 in 1911-15 increased to 115.2 in 1931-35
What percentage of the population read a daily national newspaper
In 1939, 69% of the population read a daily national paper
News of the World
A newspaper, with a circulation of around 4 million which focused on sensational stories, often sexual ones
Growth in women’s magazines
‘Woman’ sold 4 million copies in 1939
What was the problem with female aimed magazines such as ‘Woman’
Media tried to shape the way women were perceived in society
They all had tips on marriage, recipes and fashion
Childrens magazines
The Beano and The Dandy were launched
The first coloured comics of their time
Increase in number of homes with radio licences
Grew from 36,000 in 1922 to 2 million 1926 then to 34 million in 1939
Growth of cinema in the interwar years
Talking pictures arrived
Cinemas were built in town centres which held 3000 people
Entry was cheap enough for the working class to go several times a week
