A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46

25

KITCHEN FRONT BROADCAST

26

SECTION 4 .

Reasons for not listening to the kitchen Front Broadcast on the Day of Interview.

Question 7 “Can you say why you did not listen in to the 8.15 food. talk?” was asked of 148 housewives who although listening between 8.0 and 8.30 a.m. did not listen to the Kitchen Front Programme. There were 134 answers, the greater proportion of which (54%) were such answers as “Too busy”, “busy” and the like.

These answers have been broken down by “Class”, “Age”, “Without and with Children” and by “Fuel” but the results do not appear to be significant. (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4).

Those who answered this question by saying that the “Time was inconvenient” were asked a further question to ascertain if it would be more or less convenient if the talk followed immediately after the news. This number was only 16 so that analysis of this result would serve no useful purpose. However this question was asked by many interviewers of other groups and these results, together with other relevant material are included in the Supplement on Time to this Section.

TABLE 1.

Breakdown by Social Class.

A B C D Total
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
Busy 13 68.5 12 54.5 34 52.5 13 46.5 72 53.7
Have to go out - - - - 1 1.5 1 3.6 2 1.5
Switched off. Some to avoid Programme Parade. 1 5.3 2 9.1 4 6.1 2 7.1 9 6.7
Not interested 1 5.3 1 4.5 8 12.3 3 10.7 13 9.7
Time inconvenient 2 10.5 4 18.2 7 10.8 3 10.7 16 11.9
Miscellaneous Reasons 2 10.5 3 13.6 11 16.9 6 21.5 22 16.4
Total 19 22 65 28 134
TABLE 2.

“Can you say why you didn't listen to the 8.15 food talk?”

Breakdown by Age.

Under 35 35 -50 50 and Over Total
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Busy 24 63.2 25 45.5 22 56.5 71 53.8
Have to go out - - 1 1.8 1 2.6 2 1.5
Switched off. Some to avoid Programme Parade 3 7.8 4 7.3 2 5.1 9 6.8
Not interested 3 7.8 7 12.7 3 7.7 13 9.9
Time inconvenient 2 5.3 6 10.9 7 17.9 15 11.4
Miscellaneous Reason 6 15.8 12 21.8 4 10.2 22 16.7
Total 38 55 39 132
TABLE 3.

“Can you say why you didn't listen to the 8.15 food talk?”

Breakdown With or Without Children.

Without Children With Children Total
No. % No. % No. %
Busy 40 51.9 33 57.9 73 54.5
Have to go out 1 1.3 1 2.0 2 1.5
Switched off. Some to avoid Programme Parade. 6 7.8 3 5.3 9 6.7
Not interested 8 10.4 4 7.0 12 9.0
Time inconvenient 10 13.0 6 10.3 16 11.9
Miscellaneous Reasons 12 15.6 10 17.5 22 16.4
Total 77 57 134
TABLE 4.

“Can you say why you didn't listen to the 8.15 food talk?”

Breakdown by Fuel

Electricity Gas Oil Slow Combustion Coal or Coke More than 1 sort of fuel Total
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
Busy 6 46.2 49 56.3 - - - - - - 11 50.0 66 52.1
Have to go out - - 1 1.1 - - - - - - 1 4.5 2 1.6
Switched off. Some to avoid Programme Parade. 1 7.7 5 5.8 - - - - - - 3 13.6 9 7.1
Not interested 3 23.1 6 6.9 - - - - 2 - 2 9.1 13 10.2
Time inconvenient 1 7.7 11 12.6 - - - - 1 - 3 13.6 16 12.6
Miscellaneous Reasons 2 15.4 15 17.2 - - 1 - 1 - 2 9.1 21 16.5
Total 13 87 - - 1 - 4 - 22 127
27 28 29 30 31 32 33

SECTION 4.

Supplement on Time.

Question 8 “Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if the Kitchen Front followed immediately after the news”, was asked of 159 listeners who answered “No” to Question 3,“Did you hear the Kitchen Front Programme this morning”, and 333 housewives who did not listen in on the morning of the interview. In the first case this includes the whole group and in the second case, although the number is a small proportion of the total it will be seen that the class proportions are similar to those of the whole sample.

The proportions of the answers in the three categories “More Convenient” “No Difference” and “Less Convenient” were; No’ s to Question I 28.3% 70.0% and 1.7% and No’s to Question 3 15.9%, 75.7% and 8.4% respectively. (On weighted totals in each case).

These results are further analysed by Class, Age, Without and With Children, by Family Size, Fuel and Region, in the following tables. (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12) Although it should be noted here also that these breakdowns give in many cases results of little significance.

TABLE 1.

No’s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Class.

Class More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
A 6 22.2 19 70.4 2 7.4 27
B 4 19.1 15 71.4 2 9.5 21
C 14 18.4 56 73.7 6 7.9 76
D 3 8.6 29 82.8 3 8.6 35
Total 27 119 13 159
Weighted Total 76 15.9 363 75.7 40 8.4 479
TABLE 2.

No’s to Question 1.

“Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Class.

Class More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
A 10 17.6 46 80.6 1 1.8 57
B 14 28.0 36 72.0 - - 50
C 43 34.4 79 63.1 3 2.4 125
D 24 24.3 73 73.7 2 2.0 99
Total 91 234 6 331
Weighted Total 291 28.3 719 70.0 18 1.7 1,028
TABLE 3.

No’s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Age.

Age More Convenient % No difference % Less Convenient % Total
Under 35 10 25.0 24 60.0 6 15.0 40
35 - 50 9 15.3 46 77.9 4 6.8 59
Over 50 8 17.4 36 78.3 2 4.3 46
Total 27 18.6 106 73.1 12 8.3 145
TABLE 4.

No’s to Question 1.

“Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Age.

Age More Convenient % No difference % Less Convenient % Total
Under 35 33 34.8 60 63.1 2 2.1 95
35 - 50 43 33.9 84 66.1 - - 127
Over 50 11 11.7 78 84.0 4 4.3 93
Total 87 27.6 222 70.5 6 1.9 315
TABLE 5.

No’s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient for you or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Children.

More Convenient % No difference % Less Convenient % Total
Without Children 14 14.4 74 76.3 9 9.3 97
With Children 13 21.0 45 72.6 4 6.4 62
Total 27 17.0 119 74.8 13 8.2 159
TABLE 6.

No’s to Question 1.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Children

More Convenient % No difference % Less Convenient % Total
Without Children 43 22.7 142 75.2 4 2.1 189
With Children 48 34.3 94 65.5 2 1.4 144
Total 91 27.4 236 70.8 6 1.8 333
TABLE 7.

No’s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Number of Mouths.

No. of Mouths More Convenient % No difference % Less Convenient % Total
1 - 1 100.0 - 1
2 6 22.3 20 74.0 1 3.7 27
3 6 14.7 30 73.1 5 12.2 41
4 5 10.9 35 76.0 6 13.1 46
5 5 21.8 17 73.7 1 4.5 23
6 2 20.0 8 8.0 - 10
7 and over 2 2.2 7 77.8 - 9
Total 26 16.6 118 75.0 13 8.3 157
TABLE 8.

No’s to Question I.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by number of Mouths.

No. of Mouths More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
2 21 35.6 38 64.4 - - 59
3 20 24.1 61 74.6 2 2.4 83
4 17 21.1 61 75.4 3 3.5 81
5 11 26.7 30 73.3 - - 41
6 9 34.6 16 61.6 1 3.8 26
7 and over 8 23.5 26 76.5 - - 34
Total 86 27.6 232 71.6 6 1.8 324
TABLE 9

No’s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Fuel.

Fuel More Convenient % No Difference % Loss Convenient % Total
Electricity 5 33.3 10 66.7 - - 15
Gas 11 15.3 54 75.0 7 9.7 72
Oil - - 1 100.0 - - 1
Slow Combustion Fuel - - - - - - -
Coal or Coke - - 11 84.6 2 15.4 13
More than one sort of fuel 11 19.0 43 74.1 4 6.9 58
Total 27 17.0 119 74.5 13 8.5 159
TABLE 10.

No’s to Question 1.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the news?”.

Breakdown by fuel.

Fuel More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
Electricity 15 32.0 32 38.0 - - 47
Gas 42 34.4 78 64.0 2 1.6 122
Oil 3 100.0 - - - 3
Slow combustion fuel 1 33.3 2 66.7 - - 3
Coal or Coke 2 8.0 23 92.0 - - 25
More than one sort of fuel 28 21.7 97 75.2 4 3.1 129
Total 91 27.7 232 70.5 6 1.8 329
TABLE 11.

No’ s to Question 3.

“Would it be more convenient or less convenient if Kitchen Front followed immediately after the News?”

Breakdown by Region.

More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
Scotland Urban 3 10.3 25 86.3 1 3.4 29
Rural 1 50.0 1 50.0 - - 2
S. Wales Urban - - 3 100.0 - - 3
Rural - - 1 100.0 - - 1
East Urban 4 40.0 4 40.0 2 2.0 10
Rural 1 20.0 4 80.0 - - 5
Midland Urban 6 27.4 14 62.5 2 9.1 22
Rural - - - - - - -
N. Midland Urban 2 40.0 3 60.0 - - 5
Rural 2 40.0 3 60.0 - - 5
N. East Urban - - 5 50.0 5 50.0 10
Rural - - 1 100.0 - - 1
N. West Urban 2 28.6 3 42.8 2 28.6 7
Rural 1 33.3 2 66.7 - - 3
S.E. and London Urban 4 8.9 41 91.1 - - 45
Rural - - 2 100.0 - - 2
South Urban - - - - - - -
Rural - - 1 100.0 - - 1
S. West Urban - - 4 80.0 1 20.0 5
Rural - - 2 100.0 - - 2
Total 26 16.5 119 75.3 13 8.2 158
TABLE 12.

No’s to Question 1. Regional Breakdown.

Region More Convenient % No Difference % Less Convenient % Total
Scotland Urban 4 56.7 2 33.3 - - 6
Rural - - - - - - -
South Wales Urban - - - - - -
Rural - - - - - -
East Urban 12 24.0 37 74.0 1 2.0 50
Rural 7 31.7 15 68.3 - - 22
Midland Urban 20 22.4 66 74.2 3 3.4 89
Rural 3 17.7 14 82.3 - - 17
N. Midland Urban 14 56.0 11 44.0 - - 25
Rural 3 27.6 8 72.5 - - 11
N. East Urban 1 - - - - - 1
Rural - - - - - - -
N. West Urban 2 - - - - - 2
Rural - - - - - - -
S.E. and London Urban 4 7.9 45 88.2 2 3.9 51
Rural - - - - - - -
South Urban - - - - - - -
Rural 4 66.6 2 33.3 - - 6
South West Urban 11 28.9 27 71.1 - - 38
Rural - - 6 - - 6
Total 85 27.4 234 70.7 6 1.8 321

Suggestions made by housewives about times.

Some further light was thrown on preferences for time by the comments made by housewives at the interview. There were 697 comments about time and there is reason to believe that this sample is fairly representative.

There are three times for which a large number of preferences are expressed, 9 a.m. - “After the European News”, 1 p.m, “After the 1 o’clock News” and 6 p.m. “After the News”, these being mentioned 112 times or 16.1%, 166 times or 23.8% and 99 times or 14.2% respectively.

Further analyse of these preferences are given in, Tables 13, 14 and 15, by Class, Urban and Rural and Region.

TABLE 13+.

Suggested Times .

CLASS
A B C D Total
% % % % %
Before 8 a.m. 1 0.7 4 2.7 4 1.5 4 3.1 13 1.9
8.30 - 9 2 1.3 3 2.0 3 1.1 1 0.8 9 1.3
Later in morning 2 1.3 5 3.4 5 1.9 6 4.6 18 2.6
9 - After European News. 23 15.0 25 6.9 38 14.3 26 20.0 112 16.1
10 - 10 6.6 8 5.4 20 7.5 8 6.2 46 6.6
11 - 9 5.9 4 2.7 4 1.5 7 5.4 24 3.4
12 - 1 0.7 1 0.7 4 1.5 3 2.3 9 1.3
1 - After News 36 23.5 6 24.3 79 29.8 15 11.5 166 23.8
2 - 2 1.3 3 2.0 5 1.9 4 3.1 14 2.0
3 - - - 1 0.7 - - 4 3.1 5 0.7
4 - 5 3.2 - - 3 1.1 1 0.8 9 1.3
Afternoon “Teatime” 5 3.2 6 4.1 9 3.4 5 3.8 25 3.6
5 - 6 3.9 5 3.4 7 2.6 1 0.8 19 2.7
6 - After News 21 13.7 21 14.2 42 15.8 15 11.5 99 14.2
Evening 11 7.2 12 8.1 11 4.1 13 10.0 47 6.7
7 - 2 1.3 2 1.3 3 1.1 3 2.3 10 1.4
8 - 3 2.0 1 0.7 2 0.7 2 1.5 8 1.2
9 - 1 0.7 2 1.3 1 0.4 2 1.5 6 0.9
Another time (Unspecified) 13 8.5 9 6.1 26 9.8 10 7.7 58 8.3
Total 153 100 148 100 266 100 130 100 697 100
TABLE 14.+
URBAN RURAL TOTAL
% % %
Before 8 a.m. 11 1.9 2 1.6 13 1.9
8.30 - 9 8 1.4 1 0.8 9 1.3
Later in Morning 14 2.4 4 3.2 18 2.6
9 - After European News 98 17.3 14 11.2 112 16.1
10 - 40 7.0 6 4.8 46 6.6
11 - 21 3.7 3 2.4 24 3.4
12 - 6 1.0 3 2.4 9 1.3
1 - After News 127 22.2 39 31.2 166 23.8
2 - 13 2.3 1 0.8 14 2.0
3 - 4 0.7 1 0.8 5 0.7
4 - 8 1.4 1 0.8 9 1.3
Afternoon “Teatime” 19 3.3 6 4.8 25 3.6
5 - 18 3.1 1 0.8 19 2.7
6 - After News 76 13.3 23 18.4 99 14.2
Evening 36 6.3 11 8.8 47 6.7
7 - 10 1.7 - - 10 1.4
8 - 8 1.4 - - 8 1.2
9 - 5 0.9 1 0.8 6 0.9
Another time (Unspecified) 50 8.7 8 6.4 58 8.3
Total 572 100 125 100 697 100
TABLE 15.+
Scot land North West North East North Mid-land Mid-land East South Wales South West S.E. & London Sth. Total %
Before 8 a.m. 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 2 - 13 1.9
8.30 - 9 2 - 1 - 1 1 3 1 - - 9 1.3
Later in Morning 1 1 1 5 2 1 2 1 5 - 18 2.6
9 - After European News 6 19 12 8 21 11 9 12 12 2 112 16.1
10 - 6 6 1 5 7 3 3 3 10 2 46 6.6
11 - - 1 2 2 6 2 3 3 4 1 24 3.4
12 - - - 1 1 1 2 2 - 2 - 24 3.4
1 - After News 2 28 32 16 19 6 2 20 41 - 166 23.8
2 - 5 - 1 - 3 2 - 2 1 - 14 2.0
3 - - 3 - - - 1 - 1 - - 5 0.7
4 - - 3 - 1 1 1 - - 2 1 9 1.3
Afternoon “Teatime” 2 3 - 3 4 2 2 4 5 - 25 3.6
5 - 2 8 - - - 3 - - 3 3 19 2.7
6 - After News 2 4 9 11 29 2 - 22 19 1 99 14.2
Evening 8 13 2 6 6 5 1 2 4 - 47 6.7
7 - 1 5 1 - 1 1 - - 1 - 10 1.4
8 - 1 3 - - 4 - - - - - 8 1.2
9 - 1 - - 4 1 - - - - - 6 0.9
Another time (Unspecified) 2 1 5 12 12 2 5 11 8 - 58 8.3
Total 42 99 68 76 121 46 33 83 119 10 697 100

+ Information collected from general remarks made by persons interviewed.

Note : One interviewer recorded that in the north west 23 persons, in London 17, and in the south 2 persons all stated that they would prefer the Kitchen Front Programme before 1 o'clock. There are reasons for believing that these remarks were the result of prompting by the interviewer and in consequence they have been omitted from the above tables.

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