10 - Growing Up during the Twentieth Century, Part 2

Summary

Chapter 10 continues the experience of growing up from the previous chapter, focusing on some of the advantages and disadvantages for children of living in an affluent urban-industrial society. An opening section sets the socio-economic context of economic growth, a rising standard of living and persisting inequalities. A section on child health charts the generally positive influence of affluence on declining infant and child mortality, and the retreat of debilitating illness for the young, marred only by some 'diseases of affluence' such as obesity and tooth decay. The second section continues with similarly positive improvements in the material conditions of the young, in terms of food and housing. There was also an increased availability of consumer goods, leading to some debate on whether this was a mixed blessing. Finally, there is discussion of a major blight on the twentieth-century childhood: two world wars. It examines the way children were prepared for war in schools and youth organizations, the experiences of a small number of child soldiers, and the huge upheavals brought by the displacement of children, with mass evacuations and expulsions.