Poverty: A Study of Town Life
Poverty: A study of town life
INTRODUCTION
After reading Booth’s work on The Life and Labour of the People of London led me to construct my own investigation on poverty but in a provincial town so I can then find an applicable general conclusion for a smaller populated area.
My objective is to investigate upon the living conditions that the working classes of small towns inhabit as well as the growing problem of poverty.
Preparing for my observational research I had to decide on how to collect my information as there are two methods I have found and both could be effective in coming to a general conclusion about poverty in Britain. One method is to gather together and analyse statistics which would include looking through medical records and to get the records of the various charity branches, or to study in depth the conditions of a single typical town.
In this report I have include a small inquiry sufficed to show that any picture of the condition of the working classes of provincial England based on the former method would be an incomplete and of doubtful service.
Having seen the conditions of life in my own native city of York I hope to use this as a representative of the conditions that exist in many if not most of our rural towns. I decided to undertake a detailed investigation into both the social and economic conditions of the wage-earning classes in that city.
Although amongst other questions upon which I desired to obtain information on was: What was the true legitimate measure of poverty in the city, both in extent and depth? And how much of it was due to the lack of reasonable income? And due to this lack of income how many families had sunk so far into poverty that members of their families were in chronic insufficiency of food and clothing? Lastly if physical deterioration combined with an ensured high death rate, was it possible to gather results with such accurate estimates?
FINDINGS
23501359207500When I began my investigation it soon
INTRODUCTION
After reading Booth’s work on The Life and Labour of the People of London led me to construct my own investigation on poverty but in a provincial town so I can then find an applicable general conclusion for a smaller populated area.
My objective is to investigate upon the living conditions that the working classes of small towns inhabit as well as the growing problem of poverty.
Preparing for my observational research I had to decide on how to collect my information as there are two methods I have found and both could be effective in coming to a general conclusion about poverty in Britain. One method is to gather together and analyse statistics which would include looking through medical records and to get the records of the various charity branches, or to study in depth the conditions of a single typical town.
In this report I have include a small inquiry sufficed to show that any picture of the condition of the working classes of provincial England based on the former method would be an incomplete and of doubtful service.
Having seen the conditions of life in my own native city of York I hope to use this as a representative of the conditions that exist in many if not most of our rural towns. I decided to undertake a detailed investigation into both the social and economic conditions of the wage-earning classes in that city.
Although amongst other questions upon which I desired to obtain information on was: What was the true legitimate measure of poverty in the city, both in extent and depth? And how much of it was due to the lack of reasonable income? And due to this lack of income how many families had sunk so far into poverty that members of their families were in chronic insufficiency of food and clothing? Lastly if physical deterioration combined with an ensured high death rate, was it possible to gather results with such accurate estimates?
FINDINGS
23501359207500When I began my investigation it soon