Changes to Standard of Living and Leisure

What do we mean by Standard of Living and Leisure? Standard of Living: The quality of life of members of society, measured by access to basic necessities for a comfortable life Leisure: How much time people have to relax, rest of go on holiday and what they can afford to do with that time

Key words and ideas Disposable Income – How much money you have left over to spend on ‘nice things’ after food, rent taxes and other things you need to pay for in order to survive Leisure Time – How much time you have left to spend on things you enjoy after work and other household tasks Welfare State – A government which provides a lot welfare for its people. It will provide money and services to help people who are poor, older, disabled, ill or unemployed to make society more fair

The story of Standard of Living and Leisure changes since WW2 General improvement for Middle and Working Classes because of: The rise of the Welfare state which built new homes and removed the worst poverty Increase in new technology which saved time and improved living conditions Changes in working conditions and types to mean there was more leisure time for workers General improvement in the economy and wealth redistribution to mean that there was more money for WC & MC Despite all this, there was still a difference with the Upper Classes still having a far superior Standard of Living and Leisure opportunities, followed by the Middle Class, followed by the Working Class

Class structure in the mid 20 th century Upper Classes Standard of Living Leisure Middle Classes Working Classes GreatLots Poor Ok Very very Little A little

Before WW2 A high level of class difference, with most money and leisure time being dominated by the rich Standard of living followed suit, with there being a huge gap in living standards between the WC & MC compared to Upper Classes Technology which improved standard of living (cleaning, indoor toilets & plumbing etc.) was expensive and therefore out of reach of many Britons Most Middle and Working classes lacked the disposable income or leisure time to travel Again technology meant that foreign travel was all but inaccessible to the Middle Class and impossible for Working Class Middle classes better off than Working Classes

Changes to Standard of Living: Welfare state The rise of Labour’s welfare state which pushed for the government to make society fairer and better for the poorer Britons though government action and payments Pension increases, sickness insurance, disability support, child support, unemployment insurance Replacing old Slum housing with new houses with modern amenities, such as plumbing and indoor toilets

Changes to Standard of Living: Economic Redistribution Rich mostly being taxed to pay for Welfare State = money being redistributed meant more money for the poor Economic situation post war was good meaning workers being paid more = more disposable income, particularly for the Middle Classes Also rise in full employment meaning workers were more valuable so had to be paid more to stay in jobs = more disposable income to spend on things which improved standard of Living

Changes to Standard of Living Technological changes also made things which improves the standard of Living more accessible to the average Britain (plumbing, heating, cleaning products and tools, refrigerators, washing machines) This combined with improved economic situation mentioned before led to a general increase in the Standard of Living. More so for the Middle Classes than Working Classes

Middle Classes

Working Classes

Class structure in the mid 20 th century Upper Classes Standard of Living Leisure Middle Classes Working Classes GreatLots Ok, much improved Quite Good Very very Little A little

Reasons for the changes to Leisure Same reasons for Standard of Living: Improvement in economic situation and rise of the Welfare State meant there was more disposable income to spend on leisure and holidays Technological changes meant there was more opportunity for travel in the UK and cheaper flights abroad as well as cheaper leisure amenities such as Cars, TV’s, and Radios In 1948 the government made it law that workers should have 2 weeks of paid holiday Companies, trying to attract and keep workers during full employment also gave extra holidays and reduced working hours per day

Changes to Leisure Massive rise in TV’s (licences in 1947 by 10.5 Million by 1960) – 23% of leisure time Increase channels and populist programmes Car ownership 11.5 million by the end of the 1960’s meant more holiday opportunities Number of holidays increased from 27 million in 1951 to 49 million in 1973 Changes in technology meant that larger planes could carry more people

TV and home Leisure Car ownership and British Holidays More social spending Holiday Camps (Butlins) Foreign Package Holidays (Spain)

Class structure in the mid 20 th century Upper Classes Standard of Living Leisure Middle Classes Working Classes GreatLots Ok, much improved Quite Good Improved, but still confined to the UK A lot more

Overall Story Because of a change in the economic situation, the welfare state and technological progress the standard of living and amount of leisure time and quality of leisure time increased markedly for the Working and Middle Classes This meant that life was significantly better in 1975 compared to 1945 Despite this there was still a class element with obvious and unchanging differences in Standard of Living and Leisure time between Upper Classes, Middle Classes and Working Classes