WHY WAS THERE PRESSURE FOR SOCIAL REFORM IN THE YEARS 1880-1914? Flashcards
What were the general criticisms of Mayhews findings and conclusions on the poor?
- investigations not systematic and his statistics were unreliable.
- his focus on marginal occupations skewed his findings and gave an exaggerated picture of the extent of poverty in London.
- his journalistic leanings and need to make a living made him less thorough and made his descriptions of the plight of the poor better than reality.
Despite his critics, why should Mayhew’s findings on the poor still be of great value?
• Mayhew made an large contribution to the perception of poverty- he challenged the accepted idea that the poor were responsible for their own poverty, and he warned at the consequences of inaction.
Who did Mayhew’s work lay down the basis of investigations for?
• Charles Booth and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree.
Who was Charles Booth?
• wealthy,serious minded entrepreneur, whose social conscience drove him to investigate the nature of poverty in London.
When did Booth’s enquiries take place?
• 1886-1903.
How did Booth go about his enquiry?
- him managing up to 35 coworkers spent a period of 17 ears investigating the nature of poverty in London.
- Booths team members were more fellow collaborators- he controlled their work but expected them to contribute ideas and be responsible for writing their sections of the final work.
What debate was moved forward by Booths’ findings?
• most of the poor were in distress through circumstances beyond their own control.
What did Booth importantly not blame for causing poverty?
• the capitalist system.
What did Booth want to do differently to Mayhew in his findings?
- he didn’t want to simply explore the conditions in which the poor lived, but explore why they lived the way they did.
- explore the idea that there might be structural explanations to poverty not just moral ones.
How did Booth categorise the poor?
• divided the population into classes.
Briefly, what were the different classes of pauper that Booth created?
- Class A- the bottom of social hierarchy, eg: semi-criminals, loafers and idlers. Born into this class and rarely escaped it.
- Class B- casual low-paid workers, eg: dockers with no security of employment. On this class due to their moral, mean two or physical state so couldn’t better themselves.
- Class C- slightly better off than Class B but their irregular work meant they struggled.
- Class D- low incomes but regular work so could budget to survive.
- Class E and F- regular employment and paid enough to lead comfortable lives.
- Class G and H- lower- upper middle classes.
How did Booth supply some of the basis for his criticism?
• openly admitted he relied on observation only- he didn’t take into account income when defining poverty, making some say he was subjective and unreliable.
Who was Booths fiercest critic? What did they criticise about his findings?
- Helen Bosanquet of the COS.
- objected to the social survey method developed by Booth- it had no underpinning philosophy or principle.
- believed his poverty line was flawed- disputed the facts it was based on from the dubious survey method he used.
- attacked his statistical basis for his findings- he underestimated the income of families.
- championed the family case with approach of the COS and criticised Booths workers who although did spend sometime living in poor quarters, tended to rely on primary research from school board members and teachers.
When did Rowntree’s enquires take place?
• 3 surveys- done in 1901, 1941 and 1951.
Who was Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree?
• devoted Quaker (member of a religious society).
What did Rowntree believe about the workforce and what did he champion for them?
- healthy and content workers were also efficient workers.
* championed democracy in the workplace, a minimum wage, family allowances and old age pensions.
How was Rowntree’s 1st general survey of York carried out?
- one full time investigator made house to house visits and collected information from clergymen, teachers and voluntary workers.
- focused on the working classes (families with one main wage earner)- 11,560 households were visited (nearly all the wage earning households in York), obtaining information from exactly 2/3 of the city.
In terms of living conditions and wages what did Rowntree discover about the population of York?
- 28% of York living in squalor and in obvious need.
- used the information he gathered on their wages to establish a minimum wage of 21shillings per week for a family to live in a state of physical efficiency.
How did Rowntree define his poverty lines?
- drew his poverty line at his calculated minimum wage.
- primary poverty- 10% of York’s population lived well bellow the poverty line, where there was no way they would ever make ends meet.
- secondary poverty- 18% of York’s population lived bellow the poverty line, on the verge of primary poverty, with the bare necessities of life but no leeway/ savings for emergencies. Death of the main wage earner, trade slumps leading to lay offs could plunge a family into primary poverty.
How did Rowntree describe his poverty cycle?
- childhood was a time of poverty.
- conditions improved when a child became a wage earner and into their early married life.
- birth of children slipped couples bellow the poverty line until children could earn.
- period of prosperity until couples were old and could no longer work.
