[Report 1942] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bury County Borough.

  • Bury (Greater Manchester, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1942] / School Medical Officer of Health, Bury County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/40 (page 8)
    Obviously, a plentiful s.upply of gcH-td sound nutritious food, and of eU'iliing, is of i)arainouni importance. If prices are exorbitant and artificially inflated by rings or combines, so much the worse for the countrv. 'fhe age old problem of housing will have to be viewed in a more spacious manner, and tackled in a more vigorous fashion. vSo far, succes- sive Governments have nilibled all round tlie edge of the jiroblem. Shoddy materials for future building may be forbidden, and an age limit may yet be set on houses. This is ajiart from well-planned and healthy sites which are equally necessary. In the ]xast, on some occasions, either rents of hr)uses for wage earners have been too high, or conversely the wage earner did not earn enough money to pay the rent for a decent house. By a decent house is meant one soundly built of good materirds, well planned, set in healthv surroundings, and fit to bring a family uj-) in, in comfort and happiness. 'I'hen there is the \exed (juestion of finding em])loyment for all who are able to work, the satisfactory reflex being the abolishment of long and ])athetic queues of the unem])loyed. The average man would rather retain his self-respect and be in regular work, earning his money, than have the State to do nearly everything for him. Taxation which touches nearly everything to-day will no doubt be relaxed xo some extent after the war. .\s well as tax reliefs to other classes, the heavy taxation which has pressed so heavily on the middle classes, almost to their extinction, should be eased. The middle classes are usually voiceless and unionless, and almost defenceless. They have a right to live. It appears that they will bear almost an}* burden and put up with- almost any imposition without complaining. The problem of the non-increasing population in every class has been with us for many years and has reached a critiexal point now. It i.-^ predicted by statisticians that, in a few generations, there will 1.>e so few young jx-ople in this country, that we will have to import some, otherwise we will sink t(< a fifth rate nation with a preponderance of ageing people. Recently, as in the past, many remedies have i)een suggested to solve tlie problem. Heavier taxation of the single ; less employment of women in remunerative jobs which make them independent; larger jiav packets for married men workers; awards of grants to married women for each’ child iKirn; mass emigration of young jxople to other parts of the Kmpire to Tceeji our race going; and imjirovement in the training and knowledge of ob.sietrics in our medical men, and a host of other measures have all had their advocates. Heavier taxation of the single may make life so uncomfortable for them that marriage may be entered into as a refuge, but this has not had the anticipated effect of increasing the population to any great extent when tried in other countries, nor of making for ha]>py marriages. vSince there is good evidence that there will 1>e a surplus of women over men in this country for some time, many women through force of circumstances will have to earn their living. A married worker will ]>e awarded a pay packet the contents of whicli will be proportionate to his skill or the demand for his laI>our. The awarding of grants to married women for each child born would not be welcomed by many married women, who look uj>on their husbands as the ]>ro\’iders of money. IMass emigration of our young people to the Kmpire would perhaps help to exploit the vast and yet uniaj;]'>ed u'euhh there and allow them of a fuller life, but this would leave thi.> countrv worse off’ still, as far as an increase of the pK'j)ulation was concerned. Mass emigration of our young population to parts of the Emjnre overseas might have the effect of preserving our race, but would lae catastroidiic for this country, and a confession of failure to j^rovide and care for new generations liere.