Working/Living Conditions Flashcards
- Working Conditions - Living Conditions - Women and Children
Bone Cleaning
A common job for women which included cutting meat off of animal bones for bone china production. The bones were often from carcasses, where maggots thrived
Soap Making
A job which included boiling animal organs to create soap out of their fat. There was a huge risk of going blind from boiling water spitting up (had no eye protection). The extra organs that weren’t used would be flushed into the water system, contaminating it
1833 Factory Act
- No children under 9 could be employed
- Children aged 9-12 had to work a maximum of 9 hours per day
- Children aged 13-18 had to work a maximum of 12 hours a day
- Under 18s could not work at night
- Children aged 9-11 would receive 2 hours of schooling per day
- There was a break of 1 and a half hours provided for meals during the day
- 4 full-time inspectors would be appointed to enforce the act
Before 1833, how many hours a week did people work on average?
14 hours over a 6 day week
1842 Mines Act
Banned women and children under 10 from mine work
1844 Factory Act
Led to more inspectors being appointed improving efficiency, but removed educational causes
What year were the Combination Acts repealed?
1825, allowing the existence of trade unions
Examples of middle class individuals that helped the working class?
- Titus Salt - Saltaire
- Robert Owen - New Lanark
- Localised, not nationalised, so not very effective in the long term
Before 1833, how many hours a week did people work on average?
14 hours a week for 6 days a week
What did employers do from the late 1700s
Employers began building rows and rows of cheap housing organised back-to-back – they were built efficiently, back lacked quality
How many bricks deep were foundations of back-to-back housing?
3 bricks deep
How were respiratory conditions caused by living in back-to-back housing?
They lacked natural light, so candles and oil lamps were frequently used, which contributed to respiratory problems. These were also made worse from the smoke coming from factories
Rent for ‘front’ houses?
2s 6d per week
Rent for ‘back’ houses?
1s 10d
What fraction of workers in Birmingham lived in back-to-back houses?
2/3
How many back-to-back houses did Nottingham have by 1841?
12,600
Poor sewage systems led to outbreaks in cholera. Where was the first major one?
Sunderland, 1831, killing 32,000 within a year (spread around the country)
How much did the population in urban areas rise by (%) every decade between 1801-51?
27%
Chadwick’s 1842 report
Of 687 streets inspected in Manchester:
- 248 were unpaved
- 112 were ill-ventilated
- 252 had stagnant pools of effluence or piles of rubbish
It also found that 57% of children born to working class parents died before their 5th birthday
What did the 1847 Factory Act introduce?
It introduced the 10 hour working day for women and children, although this was often exploited by employers to be 12 hours per day by managing breaks and using relays
What year were relays made illegal for women and children?
1850
1853 Factory Act
Restricted working hours from 6am-6pm, with children unable to work outside of these hours
Why might the restriction of hours on children be fought against?
Parents wanted their children to work more, not less, to help their families economically
