One of the worst hit areas in England was Jarrow in the North East. Why did this area suffer an unemployment rate of 60%, a similar rate to that in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales?

British society was hit hard by the depression of the 1930s. Britain was one of the first countries to be affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929. As the USA greatly restricted imports a trading nation like Britain was bound to feel the impact. The 1929-31 Labour government fell under the pressure of the slump and a coalition tried to cope with the aftermath.