Employment and Living Standards

• This revision video covers Weimar and Nazi Germany from the GCSE EdXL 9-1 course
• The standard of living usually refers to the economic level of an individual family or nation
• Standard of living can be good for some and poor for others in any one society
• The wealth of an individual can increase while their enjoyment of life decreases
• Standard of living is very hard to measure accurately
• One way to measure the standard of living is by looking at the security and quality of employment
• During the 1930s, the number of those in work increased, suggesting an increase in the standard of living for those people
• Jewish people and women were excluded from work after 1933, leading to a decrease in their standard of living
• Some people hated the jobs created by the Nazis, impacting their living standards
• Wages in the Nazi period rose slowly at first and then sped up towards the end of the 1930s
• There were huge variations in wages across different jobs during the Nazi period
• The cost of goods rose during the 1930s, affecting the standard of living differently for those on higher and lower wages
• The increase in working weeks from 44 hours to 49 affected the standard of living for those on lower incomes
• The DAP or Labour Front was set up to make up for the lack of trade unions and to ensure good working conditions
• The DAF set out the rights of workers, the number of hours in a working week, and the minimum wage
• Unlike trade unions, the DAF did not give workers the opportunity to negotiate
• The DAF set out what the rights of workers should be, the number of hours in a working week, and what the minimum wage should be
• Unlike trade unions, the DAF did not give workers the opportunity to negotiate pay or conditions, and they had no right to strike
• Disruptive workers were punished by the DAF
• The DAF acted more as a policing body, ensuring that workers and employers kept the country moving and disputes over pale conditions did not disrupt the supply chains
• The KDF (Strength Through Joy) program was set up by the Nazis to keep workers happy by making work more enjoyable
• KDF activities

  Organizing leisure activities for workers including sporting events, films, theatre visits, days out, and even foreign travel
• Common KDF activities

  • Museum tours, theater trips
• Around 22 million workers visited museums, and around 750,000 people took advantage of the holiday offers, but many holidays were to Nazi-controlled camps and were regimented in their structure
• The most famous and popular KDF scheme was the Volkswagen car ownership scheme
• In 1937, Hitler approached Ferdinand Porsche to design a car for the German people that would travel 40 miles to the gallon, resulting in the Volkswagen or people's car
• Workers were invited to save five marks a week from their wages in a stamp scheme to set up factories to build the cars, but in 1938, the factory switched over to making munitions, and none of the workers ever got their car or their savings back
• The police state ensured that no one ever complained
• The SDA (Beauty of Labor) organization campaigned for better working facilities
• The SDA gave employers tax breaks if they built and decorated workers' facilities such as recreation rooms and kitchens, but employers usually did not pass on the money gained and expected employees to do the work to build these facilities themselves in their own time with no pay
• For some Germans living under the Nazis in the 1930s, the increased pay improved their lives, but for others, the increased cost of living made life harder
• The increased hours at work meant they had less leisure time
• The KDF activities were good for some, but only a tiny minority ever went on the holidays and cruises, while the majority only had access to museum and theatre visits, which were often compulsory
• For minority groups living in Germany, life dramatically deteriorated
• It's very hard to make a judgment about the standard of living for Germans living under the Nazis in the 1930s
• Check out the website for worksheets and revision guidance
• Next video will discuss in detail the life of minority groups living in Germany under the Nazis