1960s Childhood

1960s children grew up in a more permissive and commercial age. They enjoyed a childhood in a welfare state with ever improving health care. New vaccines for children gave them protection from life threatening diseases. The contraceptive pill, and later the 1967 Abortion Act, meant children could be brought up in smaller family groups. There was an educational sea-change as a controversial program of comprehensive education began to be rolled out. By the close of the decade, primary schools had become less rigid and more centered on the needs of the child. Rising prosperity and rapid technological advances meant more children lived in homes with refrigerators, washing machines, and science-inspired toys. Parents had more leisure time to spend with their children and television became the norm in most homes. Sixties children routinely traveled in cars and went on family holidays, increasingly abroad. Sweets and toys were plentiful in this first full decade without rationing. Nonetheless, despite the developing welfare state, some children still endured extreme poverty, especially in the inner cities. A vibrant economy and liberal attitudes to parenting saw teenagers with money to spend on fashion, pop music, fashion and, worryingly, drugs. The Beatles began to dominate the vinyl record market. This was also the first young generation not to be conscripted into the armed forces. Children and adults alike celebrated England winning the 1966 Football World Cup and marveled as American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969 at the close of a prosperous and permissive decade.