Living Standards

Question 1

Why living standards improved

Answer 1

-Rural to urban migration meant jobs with better pay and more regular employment
-differentials I’m working class society were less pronounced
-prices fell by 40%- this lead to an increase in real wages by 60%. Dramatic increase in real wages from 1870 to 1890
-fall in prices marked in foods
-shorter working hours
-national insurance and pensions
Less adulterer food.

Question 2

Why living standards did not improve

Answer 2

-unemployment levels were close to mid-Victorian boom kevels
-all types of workers experienced economic fluctuations
-there was an increase in smoking
-poor diet-high sugar and salt
-there was no national health organisation
-free school meals were provisional
-riots and demonstration
Women’s diets = tea and bread
A lot of prostitution