Living Conditions & Lifestyles in Britain Since c.1900 (OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)): Revision Note

Summary

The 20th century witnessed a dramatic change in the living conditions and lifestyles of the people of Britain. The Victorian 'slums' were demolished and councils built housing for people to rent. This was a great improvement but the houses were replaced by tower blocks, which some people argued destroyed communities. From 1980, the importance of council housing declined as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave people the right to buy their council homes. Millions did, and few new council homes were built to replace them. This has led to an increase in private landlords and an increase in lower quality housing.

The food that British people eat has also changed significantly. Since rationing ended in the 1950s, the variety of foods has increased but so has the amount of takeaways and 'ready meals'. This has harmed people's health.

Air pollution became a major problem in Britain in the 1950s. Smog became a frequent and dangerous occurrence in cities. The Clean Air Act of 1956 helped to reduce smog. However, increasing numbers of cars have led to increased air pollution.

Many jobs in modern Britain require little or no physical effort. Many leisure hours are spent looking at screens. Car ownership means people walk less and unhealthy food is very easy to get. This has led to more people than ever being overweight.

Housing in Britain since c.1900

• In 1900, the housing of most working-class people was very poor

  • Government intervention led to this gradually improving

• Aerial bombing meant that around half a million homes in Britain were destroyed during the Second World War

  • This led to councils building over two million new homes throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

  • A combination of the price of land and government incentives meant that many of these homes were in tower blocks

  • By 1980, around 4,500 residential 'high rise' tower blocks had been built by councils in Britain

• Some aspects of the new homes were an improvement on life in the run-down, overcrowded houses they had lived in

  • Many people complained that they felt isolated 'in the sky' and that the communities they had been a part of had been destroyed

The council house sell off

• Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979

  • Over 40 per cent of the population lived in council housing

• Thatcher believed in a 'small government' and wanted people to own their own homes

  • The government passed the 1980 Housing Act, which gave people the right to buy the council home that they lived in

  • Millions of people purchased their homes off the council

• At the same time, the government restricted how many new council homes were built

  • This led to more people living in homes owned by private landlords

• As in Victorian times, the standard of housing provided by landlords may be below standard

  • Poor insulation, damp and mould found in some of these properties have led to health issues

Food in Britain since c.1900

• The diets of working people in Britain started to improve from 1900

• New technologies were partly responsible for this improvement

  • Refrigeration meant that lamb from New Zealand and beef from Argentina could be frozen and transported to Britain

    • This increase in supply led to the price of meat coming down

  • Tinned foods that preserved produce for years also led to less spoiled or rotten food being eaten

• At the same time, the wages of workers were rising and the price of food was falling

  • New luxuries such as sweets and chocolates became available to ordinary working people

Rationing

• The outbreak of the Second World War meant that food could no longer be cheaply and easily imported

• The available food was rationed so that everybody got enough nutrition

  • Not all foods were rationed

  • People were encouraged to grow their own food and keep chickens

• Rationing continued in Britain until 1954

• It led to an improvement in the health of the British population

  • This was because it led to more people eating a more balanced diet

  • It also led to a reduction in people eating unhealthy foods

The British diet after the Second World War

• The food people ate in Britain changed from the 1960s onwards

• Refrigerators were only in one in ten British homes in the 1950s but were soon in almost every kitchen

• As a result of refrigeration

  • Food lasted longer

  • 'Ready meals' become more popular

    • These pre-prepared meals are usually less healthy as they are heavily processed and contain many preservatives

  • This has harmed the health of the nation

• Foreign travel and the British population having an increasingly diverse ethnic background led to changing tastes in meals and ingredients

  • Pizzas, Chinese food or curries were almost unheard of in Britain before the Second World War

  • By the year 2000, they were amongst the nation's favourite types of food

Food security

• Highly processed foods have led to concerns over exactly what ingredients are contained in them

  • In 2013, horsemeat was found in burgers and lasagne, which made people question ready meals

BSE

• In the 1980s, there was a major health scare in the UK

• This was linked to a brain disease of cattle

  • Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was widely referred to as 'mad cow disease'

• It was believed to be linked to the use of cattle feed that contained the spinal columns of other cows

• The government denied claims that eating infected beef could lead to the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans

• In 1996, the government admitted that there were dangers to humans due to a link between the two diseases

  • All cattle with BSE were destroyed

• Sales of beef decreased significantly for many years

Air quality in Britain since c.1900

Smog

• In 1950, most homes in Britain were still heated by coal fires

  • More than 200 million tonnes of coal were burned in Britain every year

  • This caused the air in all of Britain's major cities to become heavily polluted

• In winter, this smoke would combine with fog to create smog

  • In December 1952, the smog was so bad that around 12,000 Londoners died

  • This led to the Clean Air Act of 1956, which banned the burning of coal in certain areas

  • People were incentivised to fit gas central heating systems to their homes

  • This improved air quality significantly

Car pollution

• In 1950, there were around 4 million registered cars in the UK

• By 1990, it had increased to over 30 million cars, and the numbers continue to increase

• Scientists discovered that highly toxic lead in petrol was being released into the atmosphere through the car exhaust pipes

  • This led to leaded petrol being banned in the UK in 1999

• Diesel cars became more popular because they burned less fuel and were cheaper to run

  • However, they also release more microscopic particulates into the atmosphere

  • This has led to smog returning in some of the UK's major cities

Inactivity in Britain since c.1900

• Increased car ownership has led to people walking less and taking less daily exercise

• Manual jobs that require physical effort are far less common in Britain than they were in 1900

  • Even in factories, machines and robots do much of the physical work

• People's houses have become warmer and more comfortable places

  • This means people are more likely to spend leisure time sitting at home watching television or tablets

• Remote controls mean that people do not have to move to change channels

• Takeaway delivery services mean people do not have to move to get their food

• The combined impact of eating more food and doing less exercise is that, on average, British people weigh more

  • A 2013 survey recorded that 44 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women were overweight

  • Being overweight brings an increased risk of serious health problems like heart disease, diabetes, joint pain, and breathing difficulties