This 1951 paper shows how social policy has and has not changed since World War II and suggests that we have made less progress than we might have hoped.
Publisher: Sheffield Branch of the Socialist Medical Association (1951)
This paper was published by the Sheffield Branch of the Socialist Medical Association (today known as the Socialist Health Association) in 1951. It provides a fascinating glimpse back to social policy and condition in post-war Sheffield; but it is also a sobering reminder of how slow social progress can be. [Thanks to Jack Czauderna for sharing this with us.]
The good news is we now tend to live longer and that the population of people over 65 in Sheffield is now 16% (although it was already 11% in 1951 - so it is not that strikingly different). However some things are the same and some things are worse:
This brochure is full of good ideas, some now seem a little dated, but actually many still feel very relevant today focusing on:
What I suspect took us wildly off track was the determination in the 1980s to solve every problem through privatised solutions and the massive expansion of the care industry. If instead we had focused on growing our social and community structures to include and support older people then we would have a richer and stronger community today.
Read and download the free pdf in your browser, link below.
The publisher is the Sheffield Branch of the Socialist Medical Association.
A New Deal for Sheffield Old Folk © Sheffield Branch of the Socialist Medical Association 1951.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
