Suffer the Children? Divorce and Child Welfare in Postwar Britain

Abstract

This article explains why a consensus emerged in the 1950s that courts should be satisfied with the arrangements made for children before parental divorce was granted. I locate this within an evolving child welfare landscape in the context of high levels of divorce in England. The issues at stake were the relationship of child welfare to parental marital status, how this should be established in individual cases, and the legitimacy and boundaries of state intervention in divorce cases. Such developments were absent in Scotland, where the Scottish judiciary believed in upholding the autonomy of parents to make their own arrangements.