The Second World War in particular had a profound effect on British society. After the profound hardships the war placed upon its citizenry—in particular its lower classes—there was then a society-wide question of what all this suffering had been for.

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In lieu of Britain’s victory in the war, “radical social change” was promised. (Sinfield, 14) The government promised its lower and middle-class citizens employment subsidy for health, employment, secondary education, and housing, all luxuries that traditionally only the upper class had enjoyed. Whereas the pre-war social order had been aristocratic, the government was now attempting to introduce a society where all its citizens had a stake.