Regulaciones y costos laborales

V : 11 : 1 Childhood and Adolescence : Entering The Labour Market.

All oi the men and women in the works group [24] were born in the United Kingdom. 01 these, one was born in South Vales, one in Grimsby and one in Scotland. The remainder L21] were born in South Yorkshire of whom sixteen were born in Rotherham or Sheffield. Of the fathers of this group six worked as miners, thirteen worked in steel Cof whom one also worked on the buses] ; one was a train driver; two were engineers, one a vicar and one was a painter and decorator. Thirteen of twenty four of the mothers of this group worked outside the home, either part-time or full-time, largely in domestic/catering work. There were three who were single children. Mike O'Neil came from the largest family of six. The average family size was just under three [2.66J.

All of the men and women except for Pat Patterson in the staff group came from working class backgrounds. Except for one man all were born in South Yorkshire. Of these, four men and five women were born in Sheffield or Rotherham. Jim Patterson and Philip Higgins were only/single children and Sheila Foster came from the largest family,eight. The average family size was just under three. Most came from areas dominated by steel/mining industry, and this is reflected in

their lathers' occupations. None oi the fourteen mothers of this group worked part-time or full-time outside the home.

As Jim Patterson [Staff] recalled, mining and steel industries

dominated the South Yorkshire area:

" My father was a miner. He came from Parkgate and ...most of his brothers were miners too [] for, 1 think, a number of years but i couldn't say how long [] then, he moved into the steelworks, where he was a dismantier and he worked there for the rest of his life actually, [] Ve lived, in a very, you know, what you would say was a working class area and most of the neighbours were probably miners and the like, steelworkers, that sort of thing."

Although many recalled the poverty of their childhoods, none recollected their fathers actually being unemployed, although a few suffered from short time working. There was however a general feeling as with the over 55* s, that the areas they grew up in were more friendly and neighbourly than today, due in part to extended families in the area, as Brian Lloyd [Works'] and Phil Higgins [Staff] recalled:

" Ve all lived very close to each other in the same arealike...er...they were quite close because there were large families on both me mam's and dad's side and we used to see a lot oi them. . . it were a close neighbourhood then, not like it is now round here with ail these Paki's and what have you".

"[] your neighbours they were very much more involved with each other, Neighbours were much closer, you know, you had a much more,

everybody knew what was going on with everybody else sort of tiling, which you don't get in this type of... area [] they were much closer, they did know everything that went off with each other Lj

different, neighbours sitting on your doorstep and having a cup of tea together over t'wali, which as I say you don't get in this type of neighbourhood. "

Predictably, divisions of labour in the home were still based on traditional lines in ail families except for Phil Higgins who was raised by his mother alone. Sheila Baldwin [ works] :

"L'j she brought the children up. She fed us and clothed us and made sure t'house were tidy. She used to get up with us t3 early in the morning to give us a breakfast [] she did the lot actually, 'cos at that time that were her job as such L] he Cher father] did assist at times, but he never did a lot."

Ann Burgess [Staff]:

" My dad used to help occasionally like at weekends but really [] me mam did it all, washing, cleaning, shopping, the lot actually until 1 got older then I used to have to help [] men didn't in them days, it were a woman's job to look after t'house and t'kids."

The men and women in both groups attended local state primary and secondary schools. In the works group, none passed the 11 plus. Ten of the older men and women left school at 14, the remainder leaving at 15 and 16 . Only Peter and Judith White left school with a small number of 'O' levels/C.S.E.'s. In the staff group, Phil Higgins and

Jim Patterson passed the 11 plus. Both went to Mexborough Grammar- School and P:otherham College. Despite the post-war expansion in educational opportunities, there appears to have been little encouragement from the parents oi either group to push their children at school, as Peter White [Works] recalled:

" I enjoyed parts oi school but it could have been much better I think [] the majority of people left at 15 but I took my C.S.E.'s at 16, but I could have done a lot better U it wasn't a question of wanting to do something, I wasn't qualified to go onto Poly or University and 1 think me parents wanted me to leave and get a job to be honest L] me dad wanted me to go and work in the steelworks, so 1 went in partly because of me dad and partly 'cos me mates went in...looking back it's one of the worst mistakes I made." and by Gordon and June Smith [Works] [Third Interview]:

June: " At that time you either did what your dad did or what your family influenced.."

I/Gordon: "... expected.. . "

I/June:..." you to do, I don't think many people branched out and did different things in them days you just expected that your dad would help you find a job, all t'male side of his family worked in t ' pit..."

I/Gordon: " I were t'only one didn't go down 'cos me dad wouldn't let me, me grandad had worked at Spears for 36 years, I were able to get a job there, well as an apprentice at first."

Only one woman, Pax Patterson [Staff], professed to have some sort of career in mind, nursing. This was in spite of opposition from her parents. For the remainder, work was seen as a temporary interlude, between leaving school and getting married. Sheila Baldwin:

" Veil 1 did enjoy school but it were just assumed that you left at lb, where 1 came from women didn't have careers as such. I think most women thought like that. They'd get married and have chiIdrenL]like work for a while, but then you'd get married and have children."

Susan Thompson [Staff];

" It weren’t really the done thing when I were a teenager, it's different now of course... er. .. I liked my work but I knew I wanted a family straightaway, so 1 always thought of my job as temporary, until the right man came along [ U but I do hope to have a job later on."

The women in both groups went to work in the local labour market, mainly into service industries [shop assistants, secretaries etc.]. even at this early stage most felt that marriage, and raising children to be the principal goals in their lives. This divide was highlighted by many accounts of how the men and women saw their respective roles in life as this extract from the interview with Len Baldwin illustrates:

"[] we didn't look on them as equals as such but then we didn't look at them as slaves, you know, not like my father did with my mother, in that generation^] I mean, at that time, they were asserting their strength as well, they gave as much back as we gave

them. L ] they knew they wouldn't have children for two or three years, wife were gonna work so that they could buy the house, that were t' difference, very few of us went into rented accommodation, nearly everybody bought the house, which is different again from my dad's generation, L3 very few of us, in my group anyway, had unplanned families. They were all planned, in two or three years they'd start having kids, that kind of thing, that's the way it basically worked out."

Such assumptions were never questioned at this time by the men or the women. When I asked Janet Higgins : "And then what was your next job?" she replied, quite simply:

" That was it, then 1 got married you see."

V : 11 : 2 Vork and Divisions of Labour Prior to Redundancy.

This section examines divisions of labour within the households of these families prior to redundancy. This should be seen as the first of three linked stages, the pre-redundant, redundant and post redundant stages of the life courses of these men and women. In general terms divisions of labour within the home were more egalitarian, than those of their parents generation and marginally more so amongst the staff group. There is a clear continuum, in both groups, between families with quasi-egalitarian domestic arrangements and those families with inegalitarian domestic arrangements. At one extreme were the Higgins and Baldwins.