ABSTRACT
Social Trends was introduced in 1970 by the Head of the Government Statistical Services. 2 From the outset it included trend statistics from official sources reaching back to the 1951 census and even further back towards the beginning of the century on some demographic topics. 3 The publication also included some attempt to compare Britain with other countries, especially the ‘first world’ states with membership of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). By 1987, therefore, an arithmetic postwar history of a large number of facets of British social structure had been compiled with at least some comparative international reference.
