Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War?

When war finally did come the deaths and casualties would be estimated at 4,000,000 in London alone, because of this they though evacuation would be for the best. They thought the children were in a 'danger-zone' where bombs could drop at any minute, they were in most danger as the thought of mass death and injury to children was horrific and the situation would frighten them the most anyway. They were the future of the nation, the Government had to protect them as best they could.

The Government handed out propaganda about the situation, trying to persuade people to give homes to evacuees. Although separating children from their families and transporting them far away without knowing why or for how long was a frightening experience, it was for the best and although most parents were scared for their children, they knew that they would be safe in the countryside away from the war awaiting cities.

Although many mothers went with their children, another advantage of evacuation was that the women were able to work in the factories doing the jobs the male population, who were away fighting for their country, usually did. Women would also be able to work longer hours and be more productive without having to work and do all the housework and of course looking after the children at home. Consequently without evacuation there would be a much lesser workforce so this becomes a key advantage for the evacuation of children in the early years of the Second World War.

Also, if there were less people, it would take the strain off of the infrastructure of big cities. If the population was smaller there would be more room in bomb shelters for example. Also in hospitals if a child was injured they would take priority over an adult for getting a hospital bed, if there were no children anyone could have a chance of getting a bed, schools could also be used as hospital space as there would be no children to teach.

There would be fewer mouths to feed if the children were evacuated, especially as rationing went on where people had to learn to live without basic things, there was more food to go round if the children were not there to eat it. In the countryside people could grow their own food so there wouldn't be a need for rationing, also food was harder to get in the cities because of trade barriers with neighbouring countries.

In conclusion I think that there were many reasons for evacuation of school children in the early years of the Second World War, it made a bigger workforce, took the strain of worry off parents knowing their children could get hurt, it also gave poor city children better opportunities to see things they had never seen before which only existed in the countryside. There were also less mouths to feed and places like schools could be used as hospital space. I think the most important reason was to get them away from the expected danger.