Chapter 23: Social and Cultural Developments

baby boom

1946-64

grew up in a society very different from their parent's (growing affluence, consumerism and exposure to new ideas via radio, tv and cinema)

post-war living standards

desperate need for housing development

shifts in population due to slum clearance meant traditional communities broke up into new towns, e.g. stevenage

class divisions

town centres: separated from the wealthier suburbs by a belt of dereliction and neglect

intensified by priv car ownership

men's weekly wages

increased; £8.30 (1951) to £15.31 (1961)

massive increase in private savings

farming

did very well economically due to generous state subsidies

home ownership

increased due to cheap mortgages

despite this rented accom and council houses substantially outnumbered private homeowners

symbols of affluence

consumer goods: tv, washing machine, fridges + new furniture

commercial tv broadcasting launches 1955

new leisure oppurtunities

boom in car ownership; new roads and motorways

changed ideas of holidays and leisure

60,000 holidayed each week with butlin's, paid time off and disposable income

foreign holidays only enjoyed by 2% of population

televised coronation

queen elizabeth ii's coronation televised

56% of population watched it on tv

tv licenses

1951: 764,000

1955: 4mil

tv early vs late 50s

early: only one channel from 3-6 and then from 7-11:30 (hour between known as the toddlers' truce)

mid: commercial tv introduced in 55'

late: no care in maintaining the high-brow culture and so more variety with us gaming shoes and soap opera (coronation street)

end of 56': bbc + itv showing 12 diff american comedy series - very popular despite criticism

other hobbies

diy and gardening - tv reflected these interests

what did the establishment compare commercial tv to?

'smallpox, bubonic plague, and the black death'

manchester guardian: most itv programmes were either 'ordinary trash' or 'not fit to be fed to the cat'

middle classes kept to bbc (more traditional + respectable)

what changed social attitudes and behaviour?

post-war baby boom, increased leisure and time, growing affluence

teen culture 1950s

first discernible youth culture

dressed differently to their parents and listened to new music

magazines and tv programmes aimed at this group

early 50s teddy boys

working class teenagers who wore fashion derived from the edwardian style and challenged older people's ideas about social order

linked with juvenile delinquency

late 50s mods vs. rockers

1955: rock n roll reached britain (elvis presley)

rockers drove heavy motorcycles and war leather

mods rode scooters, wore suits and listened to sophisticated pop music

british new wave

caused by a breaking down of censorship

challenged the class system, especially the establishment

the establishment

informal networks of the social and political elite

privileged (upper middle or upper class) people who 'knew the people who mattered' (aristocracy, bishops, judges)

often referred to as 'the old boys' network'

critics believed britain was held back by the establishment

1950s shift in social attitudes

1951: britain was a conformist society and it was easy to recognise class

however, growing affluence amongst all classes meant working class families could get middle class attributes e.g. cars

tv + cinema mocked class system and mocked authority

how did the suez crisis affect this?

undermined the status of politicians, esp as the 1951-7 cons gov was dominated by the establishment (mac was a duke and there were 3 earls)

people became more individualist

hoggart

talked of britain's 'class-ridden' society and its lack of social mobility as leaders did not earn their positions through personal merit

50s literature

focused on working class men and women

'angry young men' who attacked upper classes with their sarcastic, bitter, intense and bleak writing e.g. john osborne 'look back in anger' which used everyday language

1950s position of women

typically housewives (wife and mother)

1951 mass observation survey (of 700 working class women) captured a woman's typical day - very busy w domestic tasks

average age of marriage for women

21 (75% of women married)

proportion of working women

1/5

family allowance paid to women so they would not have to work

welfare state and trade unions towards women

welfare state based on nuclear family and male full employment

mortgages and bank accounts in man's name so women became financially dependent

unions did not support believing it would result in lower wages

improvements for women

labour-saving devices (only increased frustration and contributed to rise of 1960s 'women's movement')

1952: equal pay for teachers

1954: equal pay for civil servants

unequal pay

still very common; earned 40% less than men

no universal equal pay act until 1971