Unemployment

The period between 1918-1939 saw Leicester become one of the most prosperous cities in Europe, when measured by average household income. However, this shouldn't mask the bleak experience of unemployment that many endured.

Work in Leicester's main trades of hosiery, footwear, and engineering had always been cyclical, with periods of short-time working. Leicester's strength was that when one industry was in a slump there was usually work in the others, so family incomes wouldn't be hit too hard. However, this wasn't the case for every family. There had been strikes and protests about pay and conditions before the First World War. For example, between 1912-13 there were more than nine strikes in boot and shoe factories. Disputes arose over job losses due to newly introduced machinery, dismissals of trade unionists and cuts in wages.

Returning from the military, some men found work easily while others couldn't find any. Some found they were starting at the same pay and conditions they had left years before. These memories are taken from the EMOHA web exhibtion Leicestershire & Rutland Remember the First World War:

In October 1921 unemployment reached 7,419, around 5% of the workforce. It varied between 2,000 to 8,000 throughout the 1920s reaching a peak in 1926 of 9,000. From 1930 onwards, following the Wall Street crash of 1929, there were rarely fewer than 10,000 jobless in the city, with peaks of around 16,000 throughout 1931/32.(1)

The following extract is taken from a compilation of memories of unemployment:

Nationally, the issue for both Conservative and Labour administrations was the need to balance limits on public expenditure with increasing benefits in the face of rising unemployment. The Beveridge Report of 1942 and the post-WW2 Welfare State was the culmination of a series of reforms over the previous decades, but the journey was not a smooth one.

In 1921, a march to protest against unemployment in Leicester resulted in a riot at the Poor Law Offices in Rupert Street. You can listen to memories of this on the unemployment compilation and read about it on Ned Newitt's website.

In 1931, the 'Means Test' was brought in to assess the income of a household in which someone was claiming unempoloyment benefit, or the 'dole'. As well as looking at people's incomes and savings, officals were able to enter people's homes and assess personal belongings. These memories are also taken from the unemployment compilation:

The Jarrow March passed through Leicester on 22/23 October 1936 en route to London. As the marchers rested, cobblers worked through the night to mend their  boots. This march was one of several marches, including a series of 'hungar' marches, that protested against unemployment and poverty in the first half of the 20th century. EMOHA has a recording of one of the members of the Leicester organising committee describing the events, which can be listened to by appointment (Ref: EMOHA70/268)(2)

Unemployment was high throughout the 1930s and it was only with the outbreak of WW2 that the figures improved. At the end of 1939 there were 5,000 unemployed people, the lowest number since 1927.

The report 'Men Without Work' was published by the Pilgrim Trust in 1938 and took Leicester as one of six towns in which unemployment and its effects were investigated. As well as reporting on the numbers of unemployed, the report considered the psychological aspects of unemployment. The report states: "What gives unemployment its special character in such a place as Leicester is the contrast between the general prosperity and the man, or the family, who is standing outside it but witnessing it all day and every day."(3)

The audio clips for this page were created by Samantha Smith and EMOHA.

Further Reading

'The Coming of the Depression' and 'Life During the Depression' on the BBC's Bitesize History webpages.

References

(1) British History Online: The City of Leicester

(2) For more information about the Jarrow March see the BBC's History Extra website.

(3) "Men Without Work. A Report made to the Pilgrim Trust", Cambridge University Press, 1938. p.55.