Industrialisation, automation and the problem of work, rest and leisure, 1918–1939

This chapter examines thoughts of contemporary commentators regarding the changing patterns of work and leisure between the two world wars. First, an indication is given of the economic conditions of the time, including trends in unemployment and in working hours. Commentaries are divided into two groups, covering the periods 1918–1929 and 1930–1939. These accounts show that the advance of technology and reductions in working hours for the mass of workers and their implications for leisure and morality were live issues at the time.