Real income

• A short post-war boom (1918-20) collapsed into a severe depression in 1921
• Wages fell for the poorest in society until 1934 and families had to get by on less than £5 a week
• Yet for most Britons, living standards improved between the wars largely because prices, especially for food, fell faster than wages: the real cost of living fell by more than a third between 1920 and 1938
• Seebohm Rowntree estimated the quality of life improved by 30% between 1899 and 1936 largely due to the increase in real wages
• An increase in the use of contraception, especially condoms meant smaller families - family incomes were shared between fewer people so therefore money went further