A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
VI FOOD RATIONING (ii)
New Series Regional G.4
An Inquiry made by the Wartime Social Survey for the Ministry of Food
Interviewing: 18th January to 8th February, 1943
A general sample of 2671 men and women, selected in representative proportions from different regions and occupation group was interviewed.
The purpose of the inquiry was to find out whether and to what extent people thought that rationing should be made stricter, and it what ways it should be made stricter.
Summary
24.5% thought more foods should be rationed. 15.3% doubtful.
Scotland less in favour than other regions. Outdoor workers and miners less in favour than other occupations.
Fish and bread mentioned most frequently.
19.9% thought some rations could be reduced. Scotland less in favour than other regions. Housewives less in favour than wage-earners.
Older people less in favour than younger people.
Cheese most frequently mentioned,
21.4% thought rationing should be made stricter in other ways.
Housewives gave fewer suggestions than wage-earners.
The problem was approached from three specific points of view. The first question asked whether people thought more foods should be rationed than were rationed at present. Secondly the size of the present rations were considered and people were asked whether they thought any of these could be reduced. And last, a more open question was put, asking people whether they thought rationing ought to be made stricter in any other way.
The results of the first question were as follows:-
(i) “Do you think more sorts of food should be rationed?"
Thus about a quarter thought that more foods should be rationed and a further 15% were uncertain.
Breakdown of these results by men and women shows no statistically significant differences.
A breakdown made by age groups shows that in the oldest group a slightly lower proportion would like more foods to be rationed and a slightly higher proportion is doubtful. The percentage answering “No” is the same in all groups.
|
Under 30
% |
31 - 45
% |
Over 45
% |
Total
% |
|
| Yes | 27.2 ± 3.7 | 26.8 | 20.3 ± 2.4 | 24.5 |
| No | 60. 1 | 60.1 | 60.7 | 60.2 |
| Don't know | 12.7 | 13.1 | 19.0 | 15.3 |
| Sample | 598 | 1014 | 1043 | 2665 |
Analysis by urban and rural areas shows no statistically significant differences between these two groups.
Breakdown by regions however shows marked differences
Scotland shows a relatively high proportion against more foods being rationed. The North is also rather less favourable towards the idea of extended rationing, but here a rather higher proportion is doubtful.
London and the Midlands have a rather greater proportion in favour of extending rationing than other parts of the country.
The different occupation groups show some differences. However in most cases the sample is small and the margin of error should be taken into account.
| Heavy Mnfctr. | Light Mnfctr. | * Other industries | Clerical | Distributive | Professional and Managerial | Housewives | Retired and Unoccupied | Total | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Yes | 30.7 ± 7.2 | 27.5 | 16.4 ± 3.9 | 37.3 ± 6.3 | 24.0 | 34.0 ± 8 | 21.1 ± 2.8 | 13.9 | 24.5 |
| No | 65.6 | 60.0 | 68.4 ± 5.1 | 49.6 | 57.7 | 57.7 | 61.1 | 56.3 | 60.2 |
| Don't know | 3.7 | 12.5 | 15.2 | 12.9 | 18.3 | 8.3 | 17.8 | 29.8 | 15.3 |
| Sample | 163 | 440 | 329 | 235 | 213 | 144 | 840 | 151 | 2665 |
The clerical and the professional and managerial groups show relatively high proportions in favour. “Other industries” have a high proportion against. In the heavy manufacturing group a low proportion and in the retired and unoccupied group a very high proportion are doubtful.
A breakdown by income group including housewives in Classes A and B and professional and managerial workers in the higher group, and housewives in Classes C and B and all other workers in the lower group, shows no statistically significant differences.
Informants who said that they thought more foods should be rationed were asked which foods. The table given below shows the percentages of those in favour of extended rationing and of the whole sample who named various foods. [As some mentioned more than one food the percentages add to more than 100.]
Fish and bread are the goods which the highest proportion think should be rationed. However these represent only a small proportion of the whole sample.
(ii) “ Do you think any of the present rations could be cut down to make more room for war shipping ?"
| % | |
| Yes | 19.9 |
| No | 62.3 |
| Don't know | 17.8 |
| * Sample | 2636 |
Other food besides rationed ones, particularly bread was mentioned. However rationed foods were mentioned in addition to this by most of them. The figure 19.9% is perhaps a little higher than the result would have been had all informants interpreted the question correctly.
Men showed a higher proportion answering “Yes” than women.
| Men | Women | Total | |
| % | % | % | |
| Yes | 23.3 | 17.6 | 19.9 |
| No | 61.8 | 62.8 | 62.3 |
| Don't know | 14.9 | 19.6 | 17.8 |
| Sample | 1015 | 1606 | 2656 |
There is a tendency for older people to be less frequently in favour of cutting down rations than younger people.
| Under 30 | 31-45 | Over 45 | Total | |
| % | % | % | % | |
| Yes | 25.0 | 20.9 | 15.8 | 19.9 |
| No | 59.4 | 63.1 | 63.8 | 62.3 |
| Don't know | 15.6 | 16.0 | 20.4 | 17.8 |
| Sample | 595 | 1012 | 1039 | 2656 |
Breakdown by urban and rural areas shows no statistically significant differences.
Breakdown by regions is as follows:-
Scotland is less in favour and more uncertain than other regions. Otherwise differences are slight.
Occupation groups show some differences.
Housewives and Retired Unoccupied group have the lowest proportions in favour of reducing rations, and are more frequently uncertain, Professional and managerial workers show the highest proportions in favour.
Results for factory workers do not differ significantly from the total.
A breakdown made by income groups showed no statistically significant differences.
Informants who thought that rations could be cut down were asked which ones.
| % of those answering Yes | % of whole sample | |
| * Cheese | 29.4 | 5.9 |
| Meat and bacon | 7.2 | 1.4 |
| Tea | 6.8 | 1.4 |
| Fats | 2.8 | 0.6 |
| Sugar | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| Jam | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Points goods | ||
| Tinned food unspecified | 15.0 | 3.0 |
| Tinned meat | 4.2 | 0.8 |
| Tinned fruit | 5.5 | 1.1 |
| Other miscellaneous | 6.8 | 1.4 |
| Vague answer | 5.3 | 1.1 |
| Sample | 528 | 2656 |
4.5% of the sample mentioned bread and 1.7% other unrationed food .
(iii) “ Do you think rationing should be made stricter in any ways ?"
This question was left open and interviewers were instructed to record informants replies in full, as more than a “Yes or No” answer was required.
Results were as follows:-
The “other suggestions” are too miscellaneous in nature to be expressed statistically. The most frequently mentioned were as follows:-
Distribution of rationed foods, particularly meat, as between shops should be more even.
Waste of food should be more strictly prevented.
Eggs, milk and oranges should be distributed more evenly.
The rich should be prevented from buying food which the poor cannot afford ;
Those with plenty of time should not have advantages over those who work as regards shopping.
Rations should be determined according to type of work done, age and other circumstances.
Rationing should be based on size of family and not individuals.
Off the ration goods should be more evenly distributed if not rationed.
Breakdowns have been made only of the three main answers “Yes", “No” and “Don't know",
A higher proportion of men than of women thought that rationing should be made stricter.
| Men | Women | Total | |
| % | % | % | |
| No | 58.3 | 66,1 | 62.8 |
| Don't know | 12,9 | 17.7 | 15.8 |
| Yes | 28.8 | 16,2 | 21.4 |
| Sample | 1057 | 1614 | 2671 |
Breakdown by age groups shows that a slightly higher proportion in the oldest group answered “Don't know” (18,2%) and a slightly lower proportion (18.8%) had suggestions to make.
Breakdown by Region is as follows
The Southern Region shows the highest proportion satisfied with rationing as it is at present. In the North a relatively high proportion is doubtful.
The results for the Southern region may be due to some extent to the fact that the bulk of the rural interviews in the sample took place in this region. The following table shows that in rural areas a lower proportion said that rationing should be made stricter and a higher proportion were satisfied.
| Urban | Rural | total | |
| % | % | % | |
| No | 61.9 | 70.8 | 62.8 |
| Don't know | 15.9 | 15.4 | 15.8 |
| Yes | 22.2 | 13.8 | 21.4 |
| Sample | 2301 | 370 | 2671 |
There are some differences in occupation groups.
The proportions satisfied do not differ very much in the different groups when the smallness of the samples are taken into account. However the differences in the proportions answering “Don't know” and “yes” are in some cases statistically significant. The heavy industry group shows a high proportion saying that rationing should be stricter, and the other factory group also had a relatively high proportion answering in this way.
The professional and managerial group had a relatively high proportion in favour of stricter rationing.
Housewives and the retired and unoccupied groups show higher proportions doubtful than other groups.