One of the worst parts for the lower class families was that they were so poor that they needed their own children to go work for them so they could have more money to support their family. Often, the families did have to crowd into one room just to get some space to rest.
How were the poor treated in the Victorian era?
The new Poor Law ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. In return for this care, all workhouse paupers would have to work for several hours each day. However, not all Victorians shared this point of view.
What was life like for the lower class in the Victorian era?
The Working class consisted of unskilled laborers who worked in brutal and unsanitary conditions (Victorian England Social Hierarchy). They did not have access to clean water and food, education for their children, or proper clothing.
How did Victorians view the poor?
Victorian attitudes towards the poor were rather muddled. Some believed that the poor were facing their situations because they deserved it, either because of laziness or because they were simply not worthy of fortune. However, some believed it was up to personal circumstances.
What was life like for the lower class?
The lower class is typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. People of this class, few of whom have finished high school, suffer from lack of medical care, adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and vocational training.
Why was life unfair for poor people in Victorian society?
Large numbers of both skilled and unskilled people were looking for work, so wages were low, barely above subsistence level. If work dried up, or was seasonal, men were laid off, and because they had hardly enough to live on when they were in work, they had no savings to fall back on.
How did Dickens feel the poor were treated in Victorian society?
Dickens felt strongly that Victorian society ignored the poverty of its underclass. On the one hand were the rich who enjoyed comfort and feasting at Christmas, and on the other were children forced to live in dreadful conditions in workhouses.
What was the role of the lower class?
Generally, the term lower class describes individuals working easily-filled employment positions. These positions typically have little prestige or economic compensation, and do not require workers to have a high school education.
How much did poor Victorians get paid?
The average wage in the 1850s was about 15 shillings (75p) a week. Many children got just 5 shillings (25p) a week, or less. While thousands of children worked down the mine, thousands of others worked in the cotton mills.
What was considered rude in the Victorian era?
Never eat very fast. Never fill the mouth very full. Never open your mouth when chewing. Never make noise with the mouth or throat.
What was life like for poor?
| The Poor | The Wealthy |
|---|---|
| had few luxuries. ate food they could afford to buy worked long hours lived in damp, filthy conditions. Many children died of disease. | usually well fed, clean and well clothed. didn’t need to work lived in big houses with servants went on holidays children had expensive toys children went to school |
What did poor children do in the Victorian times?
Poor children often had to work instead of going to school. Many worked with their parents at home or in workshops, making matchboxes or sewing. Children could also earn a bit of money as chimney-sweeps, messengers or crossing sweepers like the boy in this picture.
What kind of jobs did the lower class have?
Types of Working Class Jobs
- Clerical jobs.
- Food industry positions.
- Retail sales.
- Low-skill manual labor vocations.
- Low-level white-collar workers.
What was the lower class called?
The contemporary division used by Gilbert divides the lower class into the working poor and underclass. Service and low-rung manual laborers are commonly identified as being among the working poor.
What was the lowest class called?
proletariat
- blue-collar workers.
- common people.
- commoners.
- hoi polloi.
- lower class.
- peasant.
- plebians.
- proletarian.
How did husbands treat their wives in the Victorian era?
Women’s rights were extremely limited in this era, losing ownership of their wages, all of their physical property, excluding land property, and all other cash they generated once married. When a Victorian man and woman married, the rights of the woman were legally given over to her spouse.
Did poor Victorian girls go to school?
Where did poor Victorians go to school? Poor children sometimes had the opportunity of attending a church school, but these schools had very poor facilities with class sizes of up to 100 children. However, from 1880 the law changed and all children between the ages of 5 to 10 had to go to school.
How did Dickens feel about the gap between rich and poor people?
Dickens was an outspoken social critic in general, but especially about poverty. Before the birth of Britain’s Welfare State, which aims to support the poor, Dickens sought to help the poor by highlighting the social inequality in his country.
How were the poor people treated in A Christmas Carol?
Throughout A Christmas Carol, Victorian society looked down upon the poor. The poor people were treated with disrespect and indignity. For example, Scrooge says; “Are there no prisons and Union workhouses?
How is poverty represented in A Christmas Carol?
Poverty is represented by the character Cratchit who is Scrooge’s clerk. He symbolises their two classes through the motif of coal. Scrooge gets as much coal as he likes and gets the bucket to “top it up,” but Cratchit only gets “one piece” and daren’t ask for another in case he gets fired.
Does lower class mean poor?
The “lower class” lives at or below the poverty line. The “lower class” consists of people who work but earn relatively little income (usually minimum wage or slightly higher) and people who don’t work.