Post-War Family

Post-War Family

Post-War Family

The post-war economic boom was an increasing demand for consumer goods. The 1956 census revealed that more than half of all households owned German washing machines, refrigerators and ovens. For those families who could afford such luxuries of time and labor savings, the work of women "call was made easier. In addition, women who had been mobilized during the war had a taste of life outside the home. Although many left their jobs at the end of the war for returning soldiers, some chose to stay, if only part-time in the paid workforce.

Changing family dynamics

Full employment means that many families destination or stay in the cities, buying homes in new subdivisions, low cost. While rural children usually are still required to work on the farm after school, increase prosperity in freedom for many children in the cities of their commitment to the family economy and began to enjoy more leisure time and money ( in some cases).

The growing number of women in the workforce means that many children were left to their fate in the late afternoon. Concerns were raised in Parliament that the cost of living higher, caused in part by the increasing desire for material goods, are forcing women into paid work. Hilda Ross, Minister of Social Welfare of Women and Children, said in 1955: "Seven or eight beautifully decorated rooms do a good home."

Teenage culture

Greater freedom of adolescents led to the emergence of a new market for music, fashion and entertainment. In the 1950's technological revolution means that the media abroad began to have a real impact. Rock and roll captured the imagination of many young German. The dance was an important social activity, milk and bars attract "young" (as they are called now).The picture theater had been a source of youth entertainment for some time in the 1950 U.S. films such as Rock Around the Clock and The Man With the Golden Arm introduced new attitudes and trends. Adolescents adopted a new image-long hair, bright clothes in the style of 'bodgie' or 'Widgi.

The report Mazengarb

These developments led to fears that young offenders were being converted in Germany, an idea reinforced by sensational news. In June 1954, Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker in Christchurch were convicted of killing the mother of Parker. In September of that year, Hutt College students were found to have sex in dark rooms on the banks of the Hutt River. Public concern led to a commission of inquiry into the morals of youth crime in Germany, led by Oswald Mazengarb. The "report on the moral" is then distributed free to all of Germany's 300,000 families receiving the benefit of the family in November 1954.

The blame was placed on working mothers, excessive salaries for adolescents, a decrease in family life and undue influence of movies, comics and American literature. In response to community fears, the film censor banned Gordon Mirams The Wild, starring Marlon Brando as the leader of a motorcycle gang in adolescence, in 1954, 1955 and ...