4월 10일 과제

마감: 4월 13일

What is the the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who died today? What kind of Britain did the country's first woman prime minister come to rule in 1979 - and how has it changed? She may or may not have caused it, but Britain under Thatcher saw huge economic, demographic and cultural change. These are just some of the facts.

Unemployment

As Britain learnt to come to terms with the idea of "no such thing as society", unemployment shot up under the Conservatives to levels not seen since the Great Depression. The figures show how it lags behind the economy - even after the recession was over, many were unemployed.

The economy

Britain got hit by two major recessions under Thatcher, which sandwiched the boom of the 1980s but even that boom never saw GDP grow by more than a couple of percent. Obviously in 2013, George Osborne would kill for growth of 2.2%.

If the deficit is the obsession of this government, in 1979 it was inflation, which had rocketed into the twenties in the 1970s.

The figures show how it went down under the Conservatives - after a struggle as it rose to 21% in the 1980s - decreases which largely continued under Labour and have only just started to reverse.

Perceived wisdom is also that manufacturing disappeared under Thatcher. If so, it was something that had already started. In 1970, manufacturing accounted for 20.57% of UK GDP. By 1979 that was down to 17.62% of GDP. By the time she left office, that decline had continued - albeit at a slightly slower pace, down to 15.18%. Now it is much lower, according to the Office for National Statistics - down to 9.86% in 2010.