ABSTRACT
THE Second World War, like the first, brought a series of social changes and problems in its train, some anticipated and prepared for, some exaggerated in anticipation, some underestimated and some unforeseen. 1 The one in which moral welfare workers were most deeply involved was that of the increased incidence of illegitimate births with all its personal and social implications. This problem was not entirely unforeseen, but both the proportions it assumed, which were greater than during the earlier war period, and its complexity, appear to have been underestimated.
