Pre-war attitudes

The Second World War had a tremendous impact on British society and permanently changed some aspects of life in the country. The Britain which existed before the Second World War was very traditional. Ordinary men and women accepted that running the country was best left in the hands of the traditional upper classes. It was accepted that the rich knew better and that working-class people should be content with what they had and not expect to mix with middle- and upper-class people.

Women were expected to stay at home and raise families. The most suitable type of work for women was in domestic service as maids. Some had professional jobs as teachers and civil servants, but women teachers, for example, had to give up their jobs once they got married. Few men, and probably only a few women, thought that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same job.

The war destroyed buildings and cities and shattered many lives. It also destroyed old ideas and attitudes and replaced them with new ones.

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 57