Victorian Poverty

1. Living conditions were very bad for many people in Victorian cities, because there were not enough places for them to live.

2. Poor people worked long hours, earned poor wages in often dangerous conditions and lived in unsanitary dwellings.

3. 27% of city dwellers lived in slum conditions, in unclean, overcrowded homes.

4. Landlords were not concerned about the upkeep of buildings and there could be up to 30 people living in one room.

5. These arrangements were referred to as ‘Rookeries’ as there was no separate space for different families.

6. The poor lived desperate lives - begging, hawking goods and even selling dog droppings!

7. Even children turned to crime, joining gangs controlled by adults and picking people’s pockets.

8. Many children were forced out to work as soon as they were old enough to provide money for the family.

9. Some poor children worked in factories, mines or cleaning chimneys.

10. Others worked on the streets polishing shoes, selling flowers or sweeping crossings.

11. The poor were split into two groups, deserving - widows, orphans and the old and undeserving - the unemployed.

12. Poor people received little help from the state, but were offered charity by the Church to prevent them from starving.

13. Many people were homeless in Victorian cities due to unemployment or sickness.

14. The homeless slept on the streets or in workhouse casual wards and night refuges.

15. The care of the homeless was badly organised and many had to queue in the street for admission to casual wards

16. They had to register, before being washed and then given some food and a bed for the night in exchange for work

17. Refuges were often run by religious or charitable organisations to provide shelter for the poor.

18. They offered bread and a bed for the night and did not demand any work in return.

19. Night refuges were usually large, barn-like buildings with a stove in the middle around which everyone would huddle.

20. The beds were normally long wooden boxes with straw mattresses and leather covers.

21. Some only opened during the winter months.

22. The workhouse was greatly feared by the Victorian poor.

23. Those unable to support themselves lived there for long periods, or permanently.

24. Conditions inside workhouses were much worse than those outside to encourage people to look after themselves.

25. Men and women were segregated and children were separated from their parents.

26. People were given food in return for the work they did - usually boring jobs such as breaking stones or chopping wood.

27. Many preferred starvation to the shame and hard conditions of the workhouse.