Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With AppendicesChadwick, Edwin
History
Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With Appendices
Chadwick, Edwin
Housing -- Great Britain; Public health -- Great Britain
“There are many families among the working classes who are in the
receipt of from 15_s._ to 22_s._ per week, who are insufficiently
clothed, and irregularly and poorly fed, and whose houses as well as
their persons appear filthy, disorderly, and uncomfortable. There are
other families among them, containing the same number of persons,
whose incomes average from 10_s._ to 14_s._ a-week, who are neatly,
cleanly, and sufficiently clothed, regularly and suitably fed, and
whose houses appear orderly and comfortable. The former class care
little for the physical comfort, and far less for the intellectual,
moral, and religious education of their children; in many cases,
indeed, they neglect the education of their offspring when it is
offered to them gratuitously, and in place of sending them to school,
where they might be fitted for the duties and disappointments of life,
they send them at a very early age to some employment, where they will
earn the poor pittance of 1_s._ 6_d._ to 3_s._ a-week. The latter
class, on the contrary, are most anxious to give their children a good
education: they study to obtain it for them by every means in their
power, and they pay for it most cheerfully. The former class again
grasp at every benefit which the charitable institutions of the place
have provided for the poor. When, for example, medical attendance is
given them gratuitously, they not unfrequently despise and refuse it,
unless medicines are given them gratuitously also. Whereas the latter
description of families are not only ready and willing to pay for
medicines when prescribed to them, but they generally manifest much
gratitude, and very often present their medical attendant with a small
fee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account