ESSAY - "In what ways did post-war prosperity bring social change in Britain between 1951 and 1964?"

Note: these are essays written by me and have not been marked, so may contain mistakes. Please use for revision purposes only :) 

"In what ways did post-war prosperity bring social change in Britain between 1951 and 1964?" (45 marks)

Britain between 1951 and 1964 was described as being a “Golden Age.” People were enjoying economic prosperity in a number of ways including going on holiday abroad and buying goods such as TV sets which would otherwise have been out of their reach. Britain had “never had it so good.” With this new found prosperity, it is argued that social change soon followed. From the growth of youth subculture, education reforms and immigration, it is easy to see the link between social change and post-war prosperity but some historians may contradict this argument.

Post-war prosperity quite simply brought more money into society. Wages rose and unemployment was low relative to today’s standards, therefore people were buying more; Britain was becoming a materialistic society. The growing affluence meant that the “luxuries of the rich were now necessities of the poor” – things that were once indulgences were now essentials to the poor such as washing machines and refrigerators. Naturally, there was a boom in the purchase of these items. More people had greater spending power, especially because there was a greater availability if credit so if people couldn’t afford to buy something, they could borrow the money instead. This transformation of society - the fact that the poor were no longer actually poor and could now afford to by similar goods as the rich - was inevitably due to post war prosperity.

Furthermore, immigration rose sharply due to post war prosperity. Immigrants were attracted to Britain’s growing affluence particularly since their own country may not have had the same economic fortune. By 1961, over 125,000 people had immigrated into Britain. This brought on social change as problems began to arise due to the surge of immigration. There were issues of overcrowding, housing and employment opportunities. This, coupled with the fact that more people could now afford to buy cars and move out of the city, meant that more immigrants were occupying spaces that the natives once lived. As a result, there was no integration between the immigrants and the white people causing the increase in tensions and eventually violent riots in places like Notting Hill. With the expansion of multiculturalism in Britain for the first time, British society had truly been shaken up to a point where there was no going back. The basis of this social change all points to Britain’s post war prosperity.

Another factor that changed society due to Britain’s growing prosperity after the war was education. Pre 1960, education in Britain consisted of the tripartite system. This all changed by 1964. The working class, now wealthier, wanted a better education for their children. The reorganisation of the education system did this as the lower class children had the same opportunities as the upper class. This therefore meant that more young people were better educated so more universities were opened - such as the University of Warwick which is held as one of the best universities in the world today. Consequently, the class system began to disintegrate as everyone was taught together regardless of class by the new Comprehensive system. Society revolved around the class system and now that the classes were beginning to merge, society began to change too. This may not have happened if it wasn’t for the fact that most people, mainly the working class, were affected by Britain’s economic boom.

This links to the emergence of the “youth subculture.” Now that young people were better educated and more began to go to university, it became apparent that they no longer wanted to listen to authority. They were the first generation to have not lived through the hardships and depression of war so they were some-what described as being rebellious. Not only that, but their families had more money. With the combination of wealth and good wages on their part (since it was easier for them to find a job now that they were going to university), the growing affluence of society enabled some young people to feel independent and ready to ignore traditional ways. The anti-authority movement remained particularly after the Profumo Affair in 1963. It was claimed that the British Defence Minister was having an affair with a woman who was connected to a Soviet spy. This was a massive scandal especially since it involved a very important member of the Establishment, so the media became very intrusive and majorly publicised the whole incident. The affair hardly set an example to the young people so the declining deference only continued.

In addition, the influx in pop culture only fuelled the youth subculture. With the youths now having more money and time (as working hours declined), they began to spend their money on jazz clubs, drugs and other entities which were otherwise seen as forbidden or not respectable. It was the 1960s which also saw the rise of pop bands such as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. They were a massive influence on teenagers, so much so that they became heroes and idols whereas before it was politicians who were seen that way. The bands neither encouraged nor discouraged the teenagers’ rebellious behaviour as they were known to be defiant themselves; for example it was well known that they drank excessive amounts of alcohol and the use of drugs was common. Subsequently, the amount of young people who drank, smoked and took drugs increased dramatically. Nevertheless, teenagers began to look up to them as role models, spend money on them and therefore society changed because of the effects of post war prosperity.

Finally, another long-lasting effect of Britain’s growing affluence was the youth’s greater sexual freedom. Britain at this point had inevitably become much more of a permissive society. Abortion became legalised, the pill became available, homosexuality was accepted and no longer seen as taboo or wrong in the eyes of the youths and it was much easier for couples to get divorced. People in the 1960s did not feel the necessity of remaining “respectable” as prosperity was already achieved, so the youths felt that there should be more excitement in their lives. This was the result of post-war prosperity – most young people did not have to focus on working hard and making money anymore because they already had it.      

The opinion of the changes in society being due to post-war prosperity was mainly mutual among historians. A.K Chesterton for example described the changes in society as being “stomach turning”, Muggeridge stated that Britain was like a collapsing house which still provided shelter, and Mary Whitehouse believed that the changes in society was immoral and depraved. They all agree that the social changes that took place was fundamentally attributed to the growing affluence so there was undeniably a connection between society and prosperity. However, other historians have argued that the changes taking place did not affect the majority of the British people.

To conclude, the key to the changes in British society was the post war affluence. Society was transformed significantly between 1951 and 1964, especially among the young people of the time. Yes the changes may not have affected everyone so some people may have remained quite socially conservative, but in the long term these changes will affect many more people to come. Ultimately, it is people’s wealth and the change of social status which allowed the social revolution to take place and so social change was caused by the post-war prosperity in a number of ways.