Flats, Families and the Under-Fives

Originally published in 1976, Elizabeth Gittus explores two contemporary social issues which were central to future housing policy in Britain at the time: the implications, for families with young children, of both the increased use of flats in new local authority housing, and the sporadic expansion of nursery education and other services for the under-fives. Discussion of these general issues is referred to the findings of a survey of families occupying local authority flats, maisonettes and houses, in four selected areas around Newcastle, centring on the mothers’ reactions to their housing situation and its effects on their children.

The author documents the issues that had contributed to the pattern of new public housing from 1960 to the general election of 1974. Significant published data from a variety of sources are analysed at national, regional and local levels. The author’s findings support the contention that, for some young families, flat life remains unavoidable, and she examines the problem of providing opportunities for young children to play in such surroundings within the wider context of nursery education and other facilities for the pre-school child. She strongly advocates the fusion of official provision, voluntary effort, and parents’ participation in meeting the need for supervised play in the children’s free time.