Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This study looks at middle and upper class family life in the early twentieth century and uses both documentary research and interviews. It was designed to complement the existing national quota sample of interviews, collected for the Family Life and Work Experience before 1918 project (available at the UKDA under SN 2000), with 62 further interviews, focusing on child rearing and gender roles. It was intended to represent both entrepreneurial and higher professional families, including some who spent part of the period abroad. The purpose of the research was to provide a more reliable basis for assessing the various interpretations of the nature of upper and middle class family life in this period. For the second edition (May 2008), the study is now available in searchable PDF format direct from the UKDA.

Main Topics:

Main topics covered include: family life; upper class; middle class; childbirth; housing; discipline; education; work; leisure; religion; politics; parent-child relationship; marriage; gender; and local communities.

Quota sample

Face-to-face interview