The Family in Britain Before the 1960s

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about families in Britain prior to the 1960s, in order to challenge perceptions that households in this period were based on stable, two-parent families, focusing in particular on: (i) key issues which impacted families, such as low male life expectancy, marriage breakdown, and domestic violence; (ii) women’s employment, often thought of as a relatively new phenomenon, as an important factor in family life in this period; (iii) the emergence of the welfare state and family policies of the Labour government of 1945-51; (iv) the postwar immigration boom and the changes it brought to family structures.

About the lecturer

Professor Pat Thane is Visiting Professor in History at Birkbeck, University of London. She researches twentieth century British history, with a focus on social policy. Her recent publications include Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present (2018), Sinners? Scroungers? Saints? Unmarried Motherhood in Twentieth Century England (2012) (with Tanya Evans) and Happy Families? History and Family Policy (2011).