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‘My father found it for me’: changing experiences of entering the workforce in twentieth-century urban Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2014

COLIN G. POOLEY
COLIN G. POOLEY*
Affiliation:
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
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Abstract:

Leaving education and gaining employment is a significant life course transition for most people. This article explores the processes by which young people gained their first job in mid-twentieth-century urban Britain, and examines the ways in which this changed in relation to major shifts in society, economy and culture. Key themes include the role of parents and other family members, changes in levels of autonomy and control and the impacts of societal change. Data are drawn from oral testimonies collected in three major urban areas: Glasgow, Manchester and London, and span a period from the 1920s to the 1980s.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , May 2015 , pp. 290 - 308
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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