Chapter 4: Standards of Living Flashcards
What do the statistics available regarding the economy indicate?
Industrial wages rose and were higher than those in the old domestic industries and agriculture. But they are incomplete and therefore cannot be used as a measure of change.
What happened regarding the manufacturing industry?
There was an increase in the output even when measured against the rise in population, which suggests there was greater availability of goods, and with new farming methods there was more food production.
What did the increase in the proportion of the total working population employed in manufacturing industry mean?
More people had a wage.
What are the various arguments regarding the standard of living debate?
Fluctuations in wages, prices and unemployment around the country make it hard to see, poor iving and working conditions in the industrial towns negated any positive effect of the rise in wages, loss of gentle pace of rural life compared with harsh inflexible factory system.
Why did weavers suffer?
With the introduction of Cartwright’s Power Loom (1781) in the cotton mills.
How did living conditions fluctuate?
Year by year, largely accounted for by poor harvests and the disruption of war, making a definitive analysis difficult.
How are there insufficient statistics?
To compare money wages against prices.
What did Wars with France from 1793 to 1815 cause?
Economic disruption and stagnation of average real wages and caused real hardship.
When were bad harvests?
1795-96, 1799-1800. These made the situation worse as it was difficult to import grain from Europe. As grain became scarce, the price rose.
What did the price of grain reach in 1812?
Its peak of 6.30. This dramatically increased the price of bread, which was the staple food for most working families.
What was the effect of the rising of wages, which happened at the same time of the rising of bread prices?
They rose more slowly than the prices of both food and manufactured goods and they were not distributed evenly among the population.
When did taxation increase?
Between 1783-1815. It was a burden to the poorer classes where it was raised on consumer goods, but in 1798, a tax on incomes was introduced for the first time, unpopular among the wealthier classes.
What is the conclusion upon the standard of living debate?
Standards of living were starting to improve at the beginning of this period of study, but the progress was slowed by the interuption of Britain’s involvement in the wars with France.
Conclusion: how was hardship created for the lower classes?
Food shortages, price rises and unsteady job market, which manifested itself in protests and riots.
Conclusion: what effect did Industrialisation have on the standard of living?
It stimulated the growth of trade societies and later trade unions, whose object was to maintain a decent standard of living for their members.
