Suchergebnisse

The pioneers 1880-1899 -- The precarious generation 1900-1919 -- The breakthrough generation 1920-1934 -- The golden generation 1935-1955 -- The magpie generation 1956-1971 -- Thatcher's children 1972-1985 -- The millennials 1986-1999 -- Conclusion: we can replace the ladder with a brighter future.

First published in Studies in Social and Political Thought 1, 1999

First published in Studies in Social and Political Thought 1, 1999

The prevailing image of twentieth-century English "youth" is as a triumphal signifier of affluent leisure consumption. By contrast, this article demonstrates the importance of young working-class people's economic role as wage-earners in the mid-twentieth century. This shaped their treatment by the family and the state and the life histories of the adults they became. Juveniles were crucial breadwinners in interwar working-class households. However, the consequences of high unemployment among adult males helped redefine youth as a period of state protection and leisure in the post-1945 decades. Nevertheless, personal affluence remained limited, and young people's economic responsibilities high, until at least the mid-1950s. The history of twentieth-century youth is best understood as one in which young working-class people's fortunes were closely linked to their family's circumstances and their importance as a supply of cheap labour. Social class thus formed, and was formed by, the experience and memory of being young.

Young women and work -- Earning a living : daughters and the family economy -- Entering employment -- Mobility, migration, and aspiration -- Work culture -- "Frivolous" workers? : trade unionism and militancy -- Beyond the workplace : leisure and courtship