Theme 4 - Changing Living Standards

Question 1

What effect did people think the post war boom would have?

Answer 1

It appeared that living standards would rise with soldiers returning to work and families having surplus money

Question 2

What effect did the economic crisis’ of the 1920’s and 1930’s have?

Answer 2

• 1920 = 1 million unemployed, 1/3 of them ex servicemen
• beggars increased
• Unemployment rose which meant living standards dropped
• Women kept jobs which alienated men
• Heavy industry badly effected

Question 3

What sector was not badly effected by the economic crisis’?

Answer 3

New industries such as electronic work. 1932 12% were unemployed in this area compared to 70% unemployed in ship building

Question 4

What caused an increase in regional differences and what figures show this?

Answer 4

• decline in heavy industry meant a decline in living standards in areas that were dominated by heavy industry
• 1932 London + southeast = 11% unemployed compared to 40% unemployed in Wales

Question 5

What health problems were first noticed in the 1930’s and what caused them?

Answer 5

• Deficiency diseases such as rickets

- Benefits were too low to provide poor with minimum diet and meat/fresh veg were very rare for poor

Question 6

Why did many poor women go hungry in the 1930’s?

Answer 6

They made sure their child ate first and as the man earned the food he was also provided first

Question 7

What impact did the food crisis have on LS in the 1930’s?

Answer 7

All money went to food so cloths, possessions and houses became worse

Question 8

Did everyone’s LS’s decrease in the interwar years?

Answer 8

No - South east benefited from consumer boom thanks to increase in light industries.

Question 9

What caused a consumer boom for some in the 1930’s? Give examples

Answer 9

• More and more houses were becoming ‘electrified’
• 200k vacuum sales in 1930 and 400k in 1938
• 300% increase in electric cooker sales between 1930-35

Question 10

What transformed for the better in terms of food for many people?

Answer 10

-Food variety increased because shops such as M&S and Sainsbury’s started to sell goods from aboard at cheap prices

Question 11

What effect did the emergence of suburban estates have on living standards during the 1930’s?

Answer 11

-Many moved from terraces in inner city areas to suburban
council houses
-90% of houses built in interwar period were on new estates

Question 12

How happened to home ownership in the interwar period and why was this?

Answer 12

• 1914 only 10% of people owned their own houses but in 1938 32% did
• Houses were much cheaper. In London they cost £450, bungalows outside London cost £250 and old houses in less affluent areas cost £125

Question 13

What was rationing?

Answer 13

• Everyone’s food and other items such as clothing, soap, paper, fuel and kitchen utensils were limited
• Everyone had a number of points a month they could spend on whatever they would like

Question 14

What did many think had happened to LS’s during WW2 and what actually happened?

Answer 14

• Many thought LS’s had decreased but actually health had increased as food was supplemented with vitamins by ministry of food
• Infant mortality decreased

Question 15

What transformations occurred in the workplace during WW2?

Answer 15

• Jobs were plentiful and wages+hours had improved thanks to union negotiations
• Average pay increased however you could only spend it on what rationing would allow you
• Women were become more popular in the workplace and creches were set up in factories from 1941, allowing mothers to work

Question 16

What was the immediate impact on housing after WW2?

Answer 16

• 2 million houses had been destroyed allowing planners to rebuild modern houses
• Families moved into houses with bathrooms, kitchens, modern appliances and gardens

Question 17

What happened to rationing after the war and what was the impact of this?

Answer 17

• Some rationing continued post war. Bread was rationed between 1946-48
• Clothing and wood rationed until 1949. Furniture was made using as little wood as possible and only availiable to newly weds and those who had been bombed out of houses

Question 18

What factors diverted spending away from improving living standards after WW2?

Answer 18

• End of the lend-lease agreement
• Britain had to feed parts of Germany and keep men in war torn countries
• Korean war involvement lead to increased military spending

Question 19

What were prefabricated housing and what caused there rise?

Answer 19

• Homelessness due to bombing lead to the passing of the Housing and temporary Accommodation act 1944
• Pre-fabs were small 2 bedroom bungalows that had wooden walls, flat roofs and were designed to last 10 years. EG: Excalibur estate in south London
• Very popular despite dampness and cold

Question 20

What other types of houses started to rise?

Answer 20

• Flats = provided easy solution to loss of numbers of working class houses in the inner city
• Estates = Lansbury estate in poplar designed so neighbourhoods within had close access to amenities

Question 21

What did the 1946 New Towns Act involve and what was its impact?

Answer 21

• created 14 new towns across Britain designed to relieve overcrowded working class areas of London. Built using modern architectural methods. Represented a huge rise in LS for many
• 1960’s led to further New Towns being built. Families could afford to live in them due to increased affluence (Wages increased 130% from 1955 to 1969)
• Residents loved the heating, hot water, gardens and access to shops that New Towns provided

Question 22

What happened to consumer spending in the 1950’s and 1960’s and what did this show?

Answer 22

• 1957 consumer spending = £1 billion but in 1960 = £1.5 billion
• Showed that rate of consumption of luxuries had increased in a short time

Question 23

What happened to wages in the 50’s and 60’s, what was money spent on and what impact did this have?

Answer 23

• Wages in 1959 were double what they were in 1950
• Money spent on Labour saving devices. 1955 17% of homes had WM but by 1966 this was at 60%
• Labour saving devices transformed the female role. Advertisers tried to appeal to women who now had spending power

Question 24

What happened to consumer credit in the 1950’s?

Answer 24

• Laws on consumer credit were relaxed
• It became morally acceptable to borrow money compared to the interwar years
• People borrowed money to afford luxuries

Question 25

What happened to food and drink during the 1970’s?

Answer 25

Foreign food and drink was on the rise due to cheap travel and supermarkets providing low cost food

Question 25

What was Admass?

Answer 25

• J.B priestly invented the term Admass to describe new society of mass consumption and advertising
• People feared the Americanisation of British culture
• 1953 study noted that American actress’ habits rubbed off on British teenage girls

Question 26

What was shelter and why was it founded?

Answer 26

Founded in 1966 to help the 12k people nationwide who were homeless and the 10’s of 1000’s living in temp housing

Question 27

What stats show that many did not benefit from increased LS’s

Answer 27

• 1967 7.5million were below poverty line living in cold, damp, dirty houses
• in 1963 Manchester had 80k houses without water, heating or inside loo
• 1965 1.5 million elderly lived alone on small pensions

Question 28

What did the 1960’s see a rise in and what was its impact?

Answer 28

Increase in High rise flats - badly built, cold and damp. Families were suck in concrete flats in areas of high crime