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The creation of Youth Culture
- 1- DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES- After
WW2 Britain faced a series of problems
caused by the fact that so many men had
died- over 1million.Men who survived
came home,had lots of sex and this
caused a huge baby boom in the years
afterwards.These children all became
teenagers at the end of 1950s.There
were suddenly more youths around than
ever before- they were simply much more
noticeable.
- 2- EDUCATION CHANGES- The
school leaving age in the 1940s
was 14.This was raised to 15 in
the 1950s and then to 16 in
1964.The aim of these changes
was to produce a more skilled
workforce.When students could
leave school at 14,they were
effectively treated as adults at that
age.Their period of 'youth' was
very short.As the leaving age was
raised they spent more time as
youths,mixing with each other and
this massively helped to create
youth culture.
- 3- INCREASING ECONOMIC POWER OF
YOUNG PEOPLE- There was a huge economic
boom in the 1950s.Young people began to play
an important role in the economy- employers
like young workers because they work for low
pay and accept poor working
conditions.Between 1938 and 1958,the
earnings of young people more than doubled in
comparison to the earnings of adults.Young
people suddenly had disposable income and by
the late 1950s young people were the age
group who spent the most on leisure
activities,clothes,music and cosmetics.This
helped fuel the creation of youth cultures.
- 4- GLOBALISATION- The world has changed
hugely in the last 60 years.The boundaries of
geography have been broken down- you can travel
ANYWHERE in the world in 24 hours.You can
contact people ANYWHERE in the world 24 hours a
day via mobile phones/internet.The impact of
American Culture is a large part of this- brands like
Coca-Cola/Nike are global.It is difficult for us to
imagine a world not dominated by American
products,but before the 1950s this was the case.It
was only after WW2 that American Culture made an
impact; particularly with young people- the new
'teenage market' was targeted heavily.
- 5- THE MEDIA- The media played a huge
role in creating and promoting youth
culture.The 1950s saw an explosion of
different kinds of media- television &
magazines.The 1980s carried this on- a
specific TV station aimed at young people-
MTV on satellite TV for example.The power
the media has developed setting fashion
trends/music trends is huge and has
revolutionised youth culture forever.
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