Poverty
|
"Samson
Rowley, a half-famished looking lad of about 15 years of age, was
charged with neglecting his work as an apprentice to Mr. Ridgway, of
Shelton. It was shown that the lad was not sufficiently fed by a brother
with whom he lived, who had a large family, which circumstance led a
brother-in-law to obtain him a situation on the railway, where he could
earn 12s per week, and provide for himself. He was discharged on
promising to return to his master, and Mr. Ridgway kindly promised to
assist in bettering his
condition."
Staffordshire
Advertiser, 10.07.1847
|
"Poverty
and the prospect of poverty were the biggest problems which working families
had to face"
(M. Anderson, Family Structure.. p.166-7)
What
is poverty?
Two
people of the same sex, height and build may receive the same wage but one is
above subsistence level and the other isn't because they do different jobs,
one which requires a great deal of physical effort, and therefore more food,
while the other works as a clerk.
It
becomes impossible to tie down with exactness what constitutes the amount of
food needed to keep body and soul together. Poverty doesn't just involve food,
but clothing and shelter as well.
And then there is the environment to consider. Compare a farm labourer and a
potter living in the same sized house and earning the same money; one
environment is poorer than the other, and highly likely to cause illness and
shorten life.
Few
families could save to meet temporary losses in income, so that even short or
comparatively minor crises could cause destitution. Gradually working people
tried to protect their position through savings clubs, friendly societies,
burial clubs and so on in an age when public welfare was limited and provided
through the poor law.
Income
and expenditure
By
the mid 19th C wages in the pottery industry were considered to be
very good compared with other industries, despite fluctuations in trade.
For
example: in the 1860's 90% of adult men in the pottery industry earned 20
shillings per week; in the cotton industry only 50% of men earned that amount.
In the coal and iron industry wages were lower.
Women
could earn 9-10 shillings per week, plus overtime. Boys began at 2s to 3s 6d
at 13-14 years old and girls earned 1s a week aged 10-13 years.
(Source: Dupree)
Michael
Anderson (Family Structure) used the following figures, calculated by Rowntree
about 1900 as a rough guide to the mid 19th C:
Cost
of subsistence for an adult: 7s per week
Cost of additional adult: 3s 8d
Cost of additional child: 2s 10d
It
can be seen that the margin is narrow. All the figures are approximations
because of fluctuations in trade and overtime and also the particular
combination of circumstances of each family.
Previous: Development of
Local Government
Next: The Poor Law
questions / comments /
contributions? email: Steve Birks
03/12/2001
