The Second World War impacted on all aspects of children’s lives, from their home life and education to the games they played. Later in the post-war period new ideas emerged in medicine and psychology about child development and family life which also had significant effects.
At the same time new legislation in health care, education and social work- including the arrival of the NHS and the Children’s Act- were drastically changing childhood experiences. Many historians have thought of this as a watershed in children’s history. This talk will explore the question: was post-war childhood revolutionised by the welfare state? It will examine how the changes that children experienced really were, and how those changes continue to resonate today. Finally, it will argue that the history of childhood has a lot to teach us about the history of the twentieth century.
Victoria Hoyle is a historian of child welfare and protection in the twentieth century. Her most recent work focuses on the experiences of children in care from the 1940s to 1990s. She has a PhD in History from the University of York and is now a lecturer in Public History. She is also Director of the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past. Prior to returning to academia in 2017, she was an archivist and worked in local government.