Unemployment in 20th Century britain Based on Gender and Age

This essay is going to look at how the experiences of those unemployed in interwar Britain varied with age and gender in particular. Whilst looking at how the experiences of unemployment differ between gender and age it is vital to remember that there were also similarities in what they went through. It is also important to stipulate that age and gender were not the only factors which caused variations in the levels and experiences of unemployment in interwar Britain as this essay will show. Some historians will argue that it is vital to look at the bigger picture of what was happening in Britain at that time. This was mainly due to the fact that Britain was going through some major transitions at that time, for example: there were changes taking place in the economy, there was increasing foreign competition with regards to trade, there was advances in modern tec

hnology and there were also changes in government policies and new legislation being introduced especially with regards to the ‘welfare state’. One can not forget the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which had an immense effect on all global economies. All of these factors contributed to the levels of unemployment and the experiences of those unlucky enough to suffer from it.

In conclusion it is clear that to a certain extent the experiences of unemployment did vary between gender and age. According to statistics more men suffered from unemployment than women, there was double the chance of those over fifty-five being unemployed as those aged eighteen to twenty-four. There were also differences of experiences faced by old and young workers when they were seeking employment as both face discrimination but for different reasons. Finally there were differences in experiences of the benefits to the unemployed provided by the government. For example the government introduced cash benefits for the insured workers and those who were uninsured were dependant on charities and voluntary organisations. The government did provided other benefits to those suffering from unemployment, for example there were benefits for women such as maternity and child welfare centres, and for children their were benefits such as free school meals. It is clear however that the experiences of unemployment were not just based on gender and age and that a lot of other factors had to be taken into account. For instance the region you lived in, the type of job you did, your status in society and the quality of your local government were all factors that had an impact on the experiences of unemployment in interwar Britain.

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