Poverty and Inequality
1944-10 1944 1940s 29 pages 4 Mr. Rowntree found that in York the causes of poverty in order of importance were as follows :— Cause of Poverty. Percentage of those in Poverty. 1. Inadequate wages of workers in regular employment 32.8% (5,643 persons) 2. Unemployment of chief wage-ear...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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London : C. W. Publishing Ltd.
October 1944
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/FD777A52-F6CE-4169-90EE-B2DFC9F27A9C http://hdl.handle.net/10796/313B1A3D-56E4-40C2-A0B5-53B9F9C253E6 |
| Summary: | 1944-10
1944
1940s
29 pages
4 Mr. Rowntree found that in York the causes of poverty in order of importance were as follows :— Cause of Poverty. Percentage of those in Poverty. 1. Inadequate wages of workers in regular employment 32.8% (5,643 persons) 2. Unemployment of chief wage-earner............... 28.6% (4,909 „ ) 3. Old Age 14.7% (2-521 „ ) 4. Inadequate earnings of other workers 9-5% (1.636 „ ) 5. Death of husband 7.8% (1,346 „ ) 6. Illness 4.1% ( 701 „ ) 7. Miscellaneous (desertion, breadwinner working in other town, and not able to send enough home, etc.) 2.5% ( 429 „ ) These causes, if arranged in order of the depth of poverty created, yield a different result. Cause of Poverty Per capital deficiency of weekly income. s. d. 1. Old Age 3 2 ½ 2. Illness 3 0 ½ 3. Unemployment 2 1 ¾ 4. Death of Husband 2 1 ½ 5. Miscellaneous 2 9 ½ 6. Inadequate earnings of people working on own account or as casual workers 2 6 ¾ 7. Inadequate wages in regular employment 1 7 That the pinch of poverty should be most keenly felt in old age and in illness is particularly tragic, since in old age there is no hope of escape from it, and it is precisely in illness that it is most necessary to have the means to purchase a nourishing diet, and to meet medical expenses which may not be covered by Health Insurance. (3) Poverty Thrice in a Lifetime. Mr. Seebohm Rowntree found that although at the date of the survey there were 31.1 per cent, of the working class population of York living in poverty, a much larger percentage had lived in poverty at some period of their lives. The proportion of those living in poverty in the different age groups was as follows :— Age. Percentage in Poverty. Of those under 1 52.5% were living in poverty. 1-4 49.7% „ „ 5-14 39.1% „ „ 15-24 23.7% „ „ 25-44 28.8% „ „ 45-64 20.7% „ „ 65 and over 47-5% „ „ The three periods of greatest economic stress are thus seen to be childhood, parenthood (while children are dependent) and old age. 1936 was a fairly prosperous year, and there is no reason to suppose that other years would yield a less serious record. The fact that so great a proportion of the working class spend their childhood in poverty is a disaster not confined to that period alone. Permanent lifelong damage to health is the result of malnutrition
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |