The Creation of Social Sense A perplexing social problem of
today is the mushroom growth of new communities, where the inhabitants have no tradition, and sometimes few interests in common. Important light is thrown on it in the annual report of the National Council of Social Service. Since the War twelve million people, 30 per cent. of the population of England and Wales, have moved their homes. A large proportion have settled in new housing estates, where only too often there is no centre of social life except a public-house. Nor, unless the local authorities act in conjunction with the voluntary bodies in the town, is there much hope of this state of things being altered. Happily, the local authorities are becoming more acutely aware of this problem, and last year twelve new schemes for community centres were set on foot. That the problem is largely psychological does not in any way mean that it is not of the, utmost practical importance, and these twelve should be multiplied rapidly. One other point in the report deserves notice. In spite of the fall in unem- ployment, the membership of the 1,450 occupational clubs, primarily for the unemployed, has remained steady, and the analyses of their numbers show one new factor which may be of increasing importance. In the more prosperous districts men and women who are employed take an active part in the club life, and this should gradually break down the gravest of the unemployed man's misfortunes—a feeling that he is one of a caste apart, or even an outcast.
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