Flashcards
Edexcel History A Britain from 1930 - 1950 - Unemployment in the UK
Flashcards do conjunto (12)
- 1Unemployment: 1930s1929 - 8%
1930 - 12.3%
1932 - 17%
1934 - 12.9%
1936 - 10.2%
1938 - 10.1% - 2Unemployment: Causes-Unemployment was highest in the coal, iron, steel, cotton and shipbuilding industries
-Other countries like Japan produced cotton cheaper
-A lot of unemployed soldiers and war worers after the war
-Great Depression in 1929 caused exports, already sinking since 1920, to halve
-By 1932 34.5% of miners and 62% of shipbuilders were unemployed - 3Unemployment: Early Benefits-At the end of WW1 the only financial help for the unemployed was National Insurance
-Set up in 1911 to cover workers in some industries like shipbuilding where work was irregular
-Workers and employers paid into the NI and if work dried up, they would pay for 15 weeks
-November 1918 Out-of-Work Donation Scheme (the dole) was set up tp help returning soldiers and war workers who were unemployed - 4Unemployment: Other Industries-80% of new factories built from 1932 to 1937 were near or in London
-New industries like the Car Industry were hiring new workers, but these were younger skilled workers in the South and West
-These factories were powered by electricity, so it didn't help the coal industry much - 5Unemployment: Distribution-1929, 5.6% unemployment in London and South East, but 13.7% in North East and 19.3% in Wales
-1930, 8% unemployment in London and South East, but 20.2% in North East and 25.9% in Wales
-1932, 13.5% unemployment in London, 14.3% in South East, but 28.5% in North East and 36.5% in Wales
-1936, 7.2% unemployment in London and South East, but 16.8% in North East and 29.4% - 6Labour Government: Actions-1929 Labour in power
-Government was in debt, but Great Depression made it hard to borrow money
-Made major spending cuts (Government workers wages cut by 10-15%) but still couldn't cover unemployment benefits without borrowing
-Unemployment Insurance Act also excluded the clause that unemployed had to prove they were actively seeking work
-Was fairer and needed, but expensive
-August 1931 proposed cutting benefits by 15% and including a means test where officials examined living conditions, savings and income of families claiming unemployment benefits
-Many ministers said it would cause too much hardship and was too humiliating, government collapsed - 7National Government and Unemployment Act-New coalition government with moderate Labour, Liberals and conservatives
-By end of 1931 cut unemployment benefits by 10%
-1934 Unemployment act clarified the different kind of benefits
-NI was the right of anyone paying contributions, would be paid for 15 weeks with no means test
-Dole was a lower payment for those who didn't pay NI or whose 15 weeks were up. Had to pass the means test - 8Special Areas Act-1934 Special Areas Act gave £2 m to help Scotland, Tyneside, Cumberland and South Wales
-Local Authorities could apply for money, but it didn't help much
-1936 industries could apply directly for money, but in the worst affected places the industries had collapsed
-1937 Special Areas (Amendment) Act gave tax cuts and low rents businesses that moved there, but it was seldom incentive enough - 9Jarrow Crusade: Causes-A lot of Shipbuilding yards shut down
-Jarrow was a village in Tyneside and almost all residents worked at Palmer's shipyard
-1934 shipyard was shut down
-1935 unemployment in Jarrow was 64%
-1936 when industries could apply for money Jarrow couldn't as there no longer was an industry there
-1936 the communist organisation National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM) organised a hunger march into London
-People in Jarrow decided to hold their own, non-political, march for work - 10The Jarrow Crusade-Didn't use red in their banners (the colour of communism)
-200 of Jarrow's fittest unemployed men, to indicate that they wanted work and they were fit for it
-Had a petition signed by 1000 people asking for work
-Covered 291 miles in 22 stages
-Old Bus carried cooking equipment and prepared next campsite
-Marched 21 miles a day
-Held public meetings at stops to explain why they were marching
-Public reaction varied, but was often positive. Some places fed them or let them use the public bathhouse for free - 11Jarrow Crusade: Opposition-NUWM opposed it, saying they should join in the national hunger marches
-Labour party and TUC (Trade Union Congress) opposed all hunger marches and made no exceptions for Jarrow - 12Jarrow Crusade: Government Reaction-31st October 1936 Baldwin refused to meet Ellen Wilkinson to accept the petition
-Cabinet issued a statement disapproving of all marches, whatever the purpose
-Unemployment benefits to their families stopped as they were no longer 'available for work'
-Several Marchers offered work, but it meant leaving Jarrow
-An MP opened a steel works in 1937, but it only employed 200 men and gave the government an excuse to ignore Jarrow
-failed to achieve it's aim, but has a large legacy
-Jarrow Crusade has become a byword for public protest with a lot of public support
-Spirit of the march inspired many modern protests
Informações
- Descrição
- Flashcards on the first section of Edexcel History A's Britain from 1930 - 1950 unit. Covers everything from unemployment, it's distribution and the Jarrow Crusade
- Criado por
- Natalia Cliff · jun 2017
- Atualizado
- 17 jun 2017
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