Social and cultural developments 1951-57
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- Created on: 15-06-17 23:16
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- Social and cultural developments 1951-57
- Britain in 1951 was shaped by WWII. Society was very divided as origins could be identified from people's attire. However social change was inbound, and the Festival of Britain 1951 made people feel like they were entering a world of technological and social progress. Baby boom and consumerism would definitely create a new culture.
- Rising living standards
- Housing development needed to recover from the war. Pre war slums were cleared. New towns such as Crawley were expanding.
- However there was divide in society between wealthy and poor. This was intensified by car ownership.
- Men's weekly wages went from £8.30 in 1951 to £15.35 in 1961. Farmers did well due to state subsidies. Food rationing also ended in 1954. Home-ownership rose due to easy access mortgages. But council houses still outnumbered private.
- Affluence and consumerism
- Surge in ownership of TV's, washing machines, refrigerators and new furniture thanks to hire purchase. Advertising via ITV encouraged this spending using adverts.
- Leisure: boom in car ownership creating greater demand for new roads and motorways. It also meant commuting by car led to housing developments further out of the cities.
- Holiday camps peaked; 60,000 each week went Butlins as people had paid time off work. Foreign holidays were possible but only 2% of people enjoyed this.
- TV more important than radio; Queen's coronation in 1953 (56% of population watched). 1951 764k TV and radio licences; 1955 there were 4mn combined. American soaps were broadcasted after 1955 which caused some anger but they were very popular.
- Changing social attitudes and behaviour
- Youth culture emerging: had more time and money, and girls went to new coffee bars rather than old tea houses. Baby boom helped create the 'teenager', and late 1950's there were programmes directed at this group
- Teddy Boys: worrying phenomenon who were linked with juvenile delinquency. They were replaced by the Mods and Rockers. Rock and roll music became popular.
- Censorship was broken down; writers and filmmakers challenged attitudes to class system in a movement called 'British New Wave'.
- Class and 'the Establishment'
- As class divisions broke down due to working class families becoming richer like middle class, it challenged the class system and the upper classes and those in authority were criticised via satirical programs.
- Suez crisis showed how politicians can lie etc. and showed Britain was more individualist than conformist. Critics believed Britain was being held back by the establishment.
- Most of Macmillans govt were from the Establishment, which led to people believing that these positions should be earned by merit, not by in-heritage or status. They needed those who favoured sciences over arts and would modernise.
- Women
- Seen as primarily housewives and mothers. Only 1 in 5 women went to work in 1951. Mass Observation survey showed the extent to which they had many chores to do in the household such as cleaning and cooking.
- Family Allowance was supposed to ensure women did not need to go to work; welfare state based on nuclear family. Women were financially dependent on husbands due to bank accounts in their names.
- Uncommon for married woman to work. Trade unions did not support them because they felt it would lead to lower wages. For those who did work there was equal pay for teachers in 1952 and civil servants in 1954. However women on average earned 40% less than men.
- At home, lives were improved by labour-saving devices, but it only made them more bored. This alongside unequal pay leads to the rise of The Women's Movement in 1960's.
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