#english_history 

After the 50s and 60s Britain remained a [[Society and politics of the 20th century Britain|European leader]] economically and politcally. But Britain suddenly began to slip rapidly behind its European neighbours economically.
## Economic problems
Most people's wealth had continued to grow. But compared with its European neighbours, however, Britain was certainly doing less well, desperately trying to catch up with the more affluent European countries.

Unemployment increased rapidly at the end of the 1970s. It was highest in the industrial north of England, and in other industrial centres of the UK. Things became worse as steel mills and coal mines were closed. In **1984** the miners refused to accept the closing of mines, and went on strike, which failed after a year of violent protests and clashes with the police. The defeat of the miners showed how much power and confidence the trade unions had lost.

Inflation had made the situation even more difficult to handle, and industrial problems also increased the differences between the new "comfortable" south and the poorer north.

## Social problems
Britain also experienced new social problems, particularly after the arrival of immigrants in Britain. As unemployment grew, the new immigrants were sometimes wrongly blamed. In fact, it was often the immigrants who were willing to do unpopular or dirty work. Black people found it harder to obtain employment, and were often able to live in the worst housing. The government passed laws to prevent unequal treatment of black people, but also to control the number of immigrants coming to Britain.

The old city centres in which black immigrants had settled were areas with serious physical and economic problems. In the 1980s bad housing and unemployment led to riots in Liverpool, Bristol, and London. Blacks were blamed for causing these riots, but they were in fact mainly the result of serious and longstanding economic difficulties.

There were other signs that British society was going through a difficult period. The Saturday afternoon match, the favourite entertainment of many British families, gradually became the scene of frightening and often meaningless violence.

Women had reasons for discontent as well. They spoke out increasingly against sexism, protested about violence against women and demanded more severe punishment for sexual crimes, as well as tried to win the same pay and work opportunities as men and won. In **1975** it became illegal to treat women diffirently from men in matters of employment and pay. Though the law was not fully enforced, and it continued to be harder for women to take a full part in national life.