The Ministry of Nurseries

By: Charlotte Lydia Riley

Britain’s childcare system is appallingly expensive, complicated, and neglected — but for a time in the Second World War, public nurseries were considered part of the new welfare state.

War workers’ children set out for a morning stroll in Cambridge, October 1944. (Daily Mirror / Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

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‘Women are in the war as much as their men.’ So opened a documentary film, directed by Donald Alexander in 1941, which explored the various childcare options available to working mothers during the Second World War. Five and Under, which was created by Alexander with the Ministry of Information for the Department of Health, explored […]

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‘Women are in the war as much as their men.’ So opened a documentary film, directed by Donald Alexander in 1941, which explored the various childcare options available to working mothers during the Second World War. Five and Under, which was created by Alexander with the Ministry of Information for the Department of Health, explored […]

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‘Women are in the war as much as their men.’ So opened a documentary film, directed by Donald Alexander in 1941, which explored the various childcare options available to working mothers during the Second World War. Five and Under, which was created by Alexander with the Ministry of Information for the Department of Health, explored […]

‘Women are in the war as much as their men.’ So opened a documentary film, directed by Donald Alexander in 1941, which explored the various childcare options available to working mothers during the Second World War. Five and Under, which was created by Alexander with the Ministry of Information for the Department of Health, explored […]

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