Affluence, poverty and unemployment 1951 to 1979

Overview

Rediscovery of poverty, relative poverty and child Poverty Action Group.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What did Harold Macmillan mean by never had it so good?

   Model answer

   His 1957 remark that most people were enjoying a prosperity Britain had never known, reflecting full employment and rising real wages.

2. 2

   Give three signs of rising living standards in the 1950s and 1960s.

   Model answer

   Widespread ownership of televisions, washing machines and cars, growth of home ownership, and paid holidays becoming general.

3. 3

   What was the rediscovery of poverty?

   Model answer

   The finding by researchers in the 1960s, notably Abel-Smith and Townsend, that a substantial minority remained poor despite the welfare state.

4. 4

   Define relative poverty.

   Model answer

   Poverty measured against the prevailing standard of living in a society rather than against a fixed subsistence level.

5. 5

   Which groups remained poor in the affluent decades?

   Model answer

   Pensioners, large families on low wages, single parents, the long-term sick and disabled.

6. 6

   What was the Child Poverty Action Group, and when was it founded?

   Model answer

   A pressure group founded in 1965 to campaign on family poverty and welfare benefits.

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