The National Archives education team’s film of the month highlights a Pathé film relating to current events, anniversaries or key topics that you may be covering in the classroom.
This month’s clip is titled ‘Factory nursery in Liverpool’ and shows a nursery set up in a Liverpool factory in 1965.
In the 1960s, an increasing amount of women were entering the workforce. This was alongside gains in women’s rights throughout the decade, including the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 and the right for married women to be the legal owners of money they earned in 1964. Later in the decade, women at the Ford car factory in Dagenham went on strike over equal pay, leading to the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
However, lack of available childcare has often been a barrier to women entering or returning to the workforce after having children. This factory in Liverpool decided to resolve this by providing a free childcare service for its workers.
With this film, students could consider:
- Why do you think it was more worth it in the long run for this factory to provide free childcare for its employees?
- What does this film tell you about women in the workforce in the 1960s?
- What does this film tell you about factories as workplaces in the 1960s?
- Does the film reveal anything about attitudes towards nursery education?
- Are there any other aspects about life in the 1960s that we can infer from the film?
Learn more about 1960s Britain in our lesson resources:
Learn more about the Ford workers’ strike in this video:
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