Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Holly Miles
To what extent was there a rapid improvement in living standards in the years 1951 to
979?

Between 1951 and 1979 Britain saw an improvement in living standards as it took action for
a planned economy to take place
...
Due to the temporary accommodation act of 1944 more
accommodation was available to the working class; this includes pre-fabricated housing and
high-rise flats, and although they came with their own problems overall it led to people
having improved living standards
...
Also, more
people were going on holiday and it was no longer the very rich that went abroad
...
However, it is debatable that in later years of the period
living standards didn’t see a rapid improvement due to the housing conditions of high rise
flats
...
One of the estates was in Catford,
South East London, the Excalibur estate which was built between 1945 and 1946, this was
under the housing and temporary accommodation act of 1944
...
This significantly raised
living standards as it got people who were below the poverty line a home
...
In addition, to prefabricated houses, they built high rise flats, particularly in Essex; this offered a scientific and
modern solution
...
In 1951 lawn flats were built in Harlow Essex
...
They were
cold and damp
...
In the long term, the high-rise flats didn’t rapidly improve the
standard of living, however, it did keep people off the streets; this poor quality in housing
resulted in a displaced community and higher levels of crime in this area
...
Also, pre-fabricated homes were only meant to be temporary and
were only meant to last 10 years but there are still many in present, which illustrates the
fact that the government didn't priorities building more stable houses
...
In the 1960’s it became possible to go abroad
...
Although this helped to make foreign products available in Britain and
broaden the view that British people had of Europe
...
Television became available everywhere, creating an enormity of culture which ended

the isolation of distant communities and helped improve the national standard of taste and
behavior
Britain spending on consumer goods like luxury items was increasingly drastically which
therefore increased their living standards as they could worry less about money
...
5
billion by 1960 illustrating the drastic increase in a short space in time
...

Many brought labour-saving devices such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and
fridges
...
For example, in 1955 only 17 per cent of homes had
washing machines, but eleven years later the figure had risen to 60 per cent
...
Household chores
would normally fill a week but could now be done in hours
...
Advertisers and manufacturers were particularly keen to
appeal to women who were often the managers of the household budget
...


On average peoples wages doubled which allowed them to have an improved living
standards as they would have more of a disposable income
...
Being able to borrow in order to afford luxuries increased at a
rapid pace in 1955; for example, the demand for television sets rose by 10%
...

However, in the interwar years buying on credit had been popularly seen as far less
accessible, particularly in working-class communities: 'respectable’ people lived within their
means and did not borrow
...
The economic shocks of
the 1970s seemed to do very little to slow down consumer spending or the expansion of
consumer choice
...



In conclusion, the post-war era saw improvements in living standards across society which
would have been almost unimaginable to many in the pre-war period
...
Nevertheless, many in
Britain enjoyed a consumer culture in which goods were readily available and often on
credit and living standards improved dramatically, fuelled by low employment and rising
wages, therefore many people had more disposable income and consequentially worried
about money or much less
...
Many of the problems; for the example with high rise flats would surface to a
later degree later in the period

---