Analysis by Sex

There are, however, only small differences in the habits of men and women in this respect, as is shown by Table 2.

The proportion of women going once a week or more is slightly higher than the proportion of men.

Analysis by Age

There are very marked differences between different age groups.

Most remarkable is the very high proportion of children aged 14 -17 who go to the cinema once a week and more often. 43% of this group go to the cinema twice a week or more often and as many as one fifth go more than twice a week. It should be pointed out that children of this age who are still at school are excluded from the sample which is designed to represent the adult civilian population, an “adult” being defined in this survey as a person who has left school. Thus this group consists of young workers, and it is clear from these results this group more than any other is open to the influence of cinema publicity.

The 18 - 40 group also show a higher than average proportion attending cinemas a week or more often. This is a broad age group and it may be assumed from the general trend of the results that the younger members of this group go to cinemas considerably more than the older members.

Of those aged over 65 a high proportion, 69%, do not go to cinemas, and in the middle age groups the proportions going to the cinema only occasionally are higher.

The results of this analysis show that as a channel of publicity the cinema is likely to afford contact much more with younger than with older people.

The table below shows the proportions of men and women in different age groups who went to the cinema once a week and more, less than once a week, and not at all.

About the same proportion of men as of women in the different age groups do not go to the cinema. Amongst those aged over 65 there are no statistically significant differences in the proportions of men and of women giving various replies. In the younger and middle age groups however, the proportion of women going to the cinema once a week or more is rather higher than the proportion of men, the latter more frequently going less than once a week.

Analysis by Marital Status

There is little difference in the habits of married and single people when age is taken into consideration. Comparison of married and widowed people with single people in the 18 - 45 age group shows a higher proportion of the single group visiting cinemas frequently, but it must be remembered that the average age of the single people in this group is likely to be very much lower than that of the married people, and if the habits of married and widowed people are compared with the habits of single people in the 46 - 65 age group no statistically significant differences are shown.

Table 5 shows the proportion of married and widowed people and of single people giving different answers in these two age groups and the proportions of all married and widowed people and all single people aged 18 or over giving different answers.

In the 18-45 group there is only a small difference between the proportions of married and of single people who do not go to the cinema. However, a considerably higher proportion of single people go once a week or more often.

It is clear from these figures that cinema publicity is likely to affect a greater proportion of the unmarried than of the married, chiefly because more of the former are in the younger age groups who go to cinemas more frequently.

Analysis by Economic Groups

Informants were classified in different economic groups according to the wage rate or salary of the chief wage-earner of their families. The lower group includes member of families in which the chief wage earner has a wage rate of £5 or less per week, and also members of families whose income is derived from state pensions or allowances. If the chief wage earner had a wage rate or salary of over £5 up to £10 informants were classified in the middle group, and if the salary or income was over £10, in the higher group. The lower group includes 75% of the population, the middle group 20% and the higher group 5%.

It is quite clear that in the lower economic group the proportion of frequent cinema goers is higher, and the middle group show a greater proportion than the higher group.

However, in the middle and higher groups the proportion of those who go less frequently is higher, and a smaller proportion of these groups than of the lower group do not go to the cinema at all.

In considering the very marked difference in the proportions that go to the cinema more than twice a week it should be remembered that the lower economic group includes a higher proportion of boys and girls aged from 14 - 17, and that of this age group as many as 20% went more than once a week. Boys and girls of this age in the higher and middle groups are more frequently at school still and are, therefore, excluded from the sample.

Analysis by Education

There are sharp differences between different education groups. Informants were classified according to the last place of education attended by them, elementary, secondary or technical school, university and other types of school. Figures are not given for the last of these groups as it includes a variety of different types.

About the same proportion of those with elementary education as of those who had been to secondary or technical schools went to the cinema once a week or more. Of those with university education a greater proportion went less frequently. The proportion not visiting cinemas is highest in the Elementary group.

Tables 6 and 7 show that substantial proportions of all economic groups and of people at all levels of education may be reached by cinema publicity. The differences observed between different groups in this respect are very much less than the differences between age groups.

Analysis by Occupation

In the table below replies have been grouped for greater clarity. The percentages of different occupation groups who go to the cinema once a week and more, less than once a week, and who do not go, are shown.

Relatively high proportions of workers in light manufacturing and in the clerical, distributive and miscellaneous groups go to the cinema once a week or more. Light munitions workers and clerical workers go more than other groups. Only small proportions in these groups do not go to cinemas.

Agricultural workers and the retired and unoccupied show the lowest proportions of frequent cinema goers. The latter group is composed largely of old people. 63% in this group and 58% of agricultural workers do not go to the cinema.

Of managerial and professional workers a high proportion go less than once a week. It will be remembered that the higher economic and education groups had a high proportion occasionally going to the cinema.

Of housewives a rather lower than average proportion go once a week or more often. Compared with other groups there is a high proportion of older people in this group, women in the younger age groups more often being wage-earners.

Amongst factory workers analysis was made of replies received from skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

Investigators asked the management or the welfare officer at the factories visited to grade the workers as skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, and so the way in which workers were classified depends on the personal judgment of these people, and not on any recognised craft or trade union definition. This may account for the high proportion classified as “skilled”. There are however, some marked difference between the different groups.

The differences shown are no doubt related to the age composition of the different groups. It will be remembered that of young people aged from 14 - 17 markedly high proportions went to the cinema very frequently, and the majority of factory workers in this age group would either be just commencing work and therefore unskilled, or apprentices graded as semi-skilled. The semi-skilled group show a very high proportion of workers going to the cinema once a week or more often, and of the unskilled very high proportions go more than once a week. Analysis of the age composition of these groups has not been made, but it is probable that the unskilled group is composed largely of very young workers and of labourers above military age. The skilled group on the other hand would be more mixed as regards the proportions in the middle and older groups but would not be likely to include many very young workers. Skilled workers go to the cinema rather less frequently than other factory workers. The results for this group approximate to the results given for distributive workers.

Analysis by Size of Town

Table 10 shows the proportions of people living in towns of different sizes and in rural areas who gave different replies. The replies have again been grouped as the differences may be seen more clearly in this way.

Half the people living in rural areas said they did not go to the cinema at this time of the year. It will be remembered that agricultural workers went less frequently than other occupation groups. Of those people in rural areas who do go to cinemas a relatively small proportion go as often as once a week. People living in small towns go to the cinema less frequently than those living in larger and medium sized towns, but much more frequently that do people in rural areas.

These differences in habit are no doubt due in some measure to the distribution of cinemas in different types of district. For people living in rural areas a visit to the cinema means travelling to a town and there may not always be sufficient transport services. In a small town there are few cinemas and the choice of films is therefore limited. Nevertheless, as many as 30% in small towns go once a week or more often.

In considering the regional figures given below, these differences should be borne in mind, since the proportions of people living in the country and in small towns vary very much from one region to another.

Analysis by Region

East Anglia, the South, South West, South East and the North Midlands are all regions in which the bulk of the population lives in small towns or in the country.

The North region (Northumberland and Durham) shows a high proportion of frequent cinema goers and a somewhat low proportion going to cinemas less often.

The results for London, the North West and the Midlands approximate to the results for those living in large and medium sized towns in the country as a whole. The North East shows a rather low proportion going to the cinema once a week or more considering the distribution of towns of different sizes and rural areas in this region.

In Scotland the proportions giving different replies are about average. In Wales the percentage of frequent cinema goers is somewhat low but it should be noted the sample is small.

On the whole it may be said that differences between regions are small when the distribution of the population in different types of district is taken into consideration. The only outstanding difference is that noted in the Northern region, and this is not particularly large.