Culture of the United Kingdom
Historically most people in the United Kingdom lived either in conjugal extended families or nuclear families. This reflected an economic landscape where the general populace tended to have less spending power, meaning that it was more practical to stick together rather than go their individual ways. This pattern also reflected gender roles. Men were expected to go out to work and women were expected to stay at home and look after the families.
In the 20th century the emancipation of women, the greater freedoms enjoyed by both men and women in the years following the Second World War, greater affluence and easier divorce have changed gender roles and living arrangements significantly. The general trend is a rise in single people living alone, the virtual extinction of the extended family (outside certain ethnic minority communities), and the nuclear family reducing in prominence.
From the 1990s, the break up of the traditional family unit, when combined with a low interest rate environment and other demographic changes, has created great pressure on the housing market, in particular regarding the accommodation of key workers such as nurses, other emergency service workers and teachers, who are priced out of most housing, especially in the South East.
Some research indicates that in the 21st century young people are tending to continue to live in the parental home for much longer than their predecessors[5][6]. The high cost of living, combined with rising cost of accommodation, further education and higher education means that many young people cannot afford to live independent lives from their families.
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Sport
The national sport of the UK is football, having originated in England, and the UK has the oldest football clubs in the world. The home nations all have separate national teams and domestic competitions, most notably the FA Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Scottish Premier League. The first ever international football match was between Scotland and England in 1872. The match ended goalless.
Other famous British sporting events include the Wimbledon tennis championships, the Grand National, the London Marathon, the Six Nations rugby championships (of which 4 "home nations" participate), the British Grand Prix, the ashes series of cricket matches and the boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities.
A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including: Football (soccer), squash, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby (rugby union and rugby league), cricket, snooker, billiards, badminton and curling.
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National costume
There is no national costume of the United Kingdom though the different countries within the UK have national costumes. Scotland has the kilt and Tam o'shanter. In England certain military uniforms such as the Beefeater or the Queen's Guard are considered to be symbolic of Englishness, though they are not official national costumes. Morris dancers or the costumes for the traditional English May dance are cited by some as examples of traditional English costume.
This is in large part due to the critical role that British sensibilities have played in world clothing since the eighteenth century. Particularly during the Victorian era, British fashions defined acceptable dress for men of business. Key figures such as Beau Brummell, the future Edward VII and Edward VIII created the modern suit and cemented its dominance.
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Naming convention
The naming convention in most of the United Kingdom is for everyone to have a given name , (or forename) usually (but not always) indicating the child's sex, followed by a parent's family name. This naming convention has remained much the same since the 15th century in England although patronymic naming remained in some of the further reaches of the other home nations until much later. Since the 19th century middle names have become very common and are often taken from the family name of an ancestor.
Traditionally, Christian names were those of Biblical characters or recognised saints; however, in the Gothic Revival of the Victorian era, other Anglo Saxon and mythical names enjoyed something of a fashion among the literati. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, first names have been influenced by a much wider cultural base.
See also:
- Most popular names of England and Wales
- Most popular names of Northern Ireland
- Most popular names of Scotland
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See also
- Immigration to the United Kingdom
- British Asian culture
- British humour
- Culture of Cornwall
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Bank Holiday
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External links
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