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Description
Flashcards by Natalia Cliff, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Natalia Cliff
over 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Unemployment: 1930s | 1929 - 8% 1930 - 12.3% 1932 - 17% 1934 - 12.9% 1936 - 10.2% 1938 - 10.1% |
| Unemployment: 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 |
| Unemployment: 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 |
| Unemployment: 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 |
| Unemployment: 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% |
| Labour 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 |
| National 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 |
| Special 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 |
| Jarrow 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 |
| The 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 |
| Jarrow 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 |
| Jarrow 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 |
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