Unit 2: How Austere Was Austerity Britain 1945-54

Key Features of British Society - Quantifiable and Intangible Aspects

-1951 Census - 50.3 Million living in Britain (Missing 250,000 killed in battle, 60,000 from German bombings)
-84% of UK lived in England/ 80% in urban areas/ 40% of those in densely populated areas such as areas of Greater London, West Midlands, Merseyside, Yorkshire
-Poorest people crowded into older, inadequate housing in city centres
-7 million without hot water/10% without electricity/1/4 without indoor toilets/ 1/3 without fixed baths
-Couldn't afford to move to newer house on outskirts because of travel costs for work
-Still predominately an industrial, manufacturing nation - 60% of workforce in manual labour, women usually only worked till married.
-Working class - unskilled labourers to skilled mechanics
-Health - less fatty and sugary diet (sweets rationed 1942-53) more active lifestyle - physical work/ Lower life expectancy/ NHS launched in 1948
-Mini baby-boom after end of war = younger population than today
-Far more teenagers in 60s than 40s
-Racially homogenous - only a few small black, chinese, south asian communities in London and western port cities i.e Liverpool & Cardiff
-British people wealthier - average wages grown faster than the price of an average basket of goods. Larger ranges of products in shops today
-Bread rationed in June 1946 first time since 1918 - not derationed until July 1948
-1946 1/4 of all consumer expenditure rationed.- rose to 30% in 1948, cut down to 12% in 1849

-Class - people associating selves with nationwide classes
-Deference for authority (exceptions of religion/secularisation 70% religious 17% attend church, exception of politicians - untrustworthy & self seeking)
-Women and Family - Defined gender roles despite more women working from 1945 - excepted to stop when married. Hard to get divorces till 1969 legislation, though rate rose from 6,000 to 60,000 between 1939-1945 due to wartime strains, though divorce rates fell in 50s and 60s due to nuclear family.
-Sex- before marriage, co-habitation without marriage and homosexuality taboo though still probably happened
-Racial Minorities - few people in contact with other ethnic groups as small amount - treated with either curiosity and tolerance or contempt and fear.
-Consumerism - Make do and mend, 1/3 of all spending on food despite rationing, not much left for luxuries, people looked forward to greater affluence but were not obsessed with material goods

Austerity of Popular Culture in Britain between 1945-54

Newspapers - press barons Rothermere, Beaverbrook, Northcliffe built up large chains of newspapers - profits before politics

Radio - BBC had a monopoly on radio until 1973. 1951 - 90% have a wireless. Powerful means of influencing national culture without pressure of selling advertising. Audience as 'public' not 'market' - Lord Reith - educate and inform public rather than attract masses of listeners.
Cemented strong sense of national identity through immediacy and reinforcing sense of belonging but people already had these feelings before rise of Radio as a mass medium due to first world war, national football leagues, county cricket, nationwide rail, national newspapers
Little progression in taste as you could choose between the light programme, home service and third programme
On sundays, the light programme dedicated to religious services - people tuned into pirate radio (luxemburg, normandy)
Americanisation - big band swing music popularised - dance halls - dance crazes, lindy hop, swing jive, jitterbug

Cinema - British Board of Censors (BBFC) acted like BBC's Green Book - preventing bad language, sex and subversive ideas reaching British audiences
Attracted predominately working class, youthful audiences
Only in larger cities would cinemas give choices of films to watch.
One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the inter-war period. Attendance slumped by 1954 - arrival of television/comfort of homes/TV
British cinema suffered from strong american competition - 1940s 80% films shown american. Quota act passed in 1938 - ensured 20% british films
J Arthur Rank - methodist Mill owner - saw threat of americanisation even before war - invested large sums of money into British film industry. By mid-40s responsible for over half of British film production.
Ealing studios
Deference/Spiv

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A Levels (Mass Media, Popular Culture and Social Change in Britain) History Apunte sobre Mass Media, Popular Culture and Social Change in Britain Since 1945, creado por yasmyncharles el 15/04/2014.

Mass Media, Popular Culture and Social Change in Britain Since 1945