At the start of the 1900s there was no Benefits System
in Britain. This meant that poor people did not get Housing Benefit to help with
the rent and they did not get money to help to buy food.
There was
a little money available to help the poor, but getting help was very difficult
and people thought it was a great disgrace. They tried very hard not to ask for
help.
So, people who were not able to work or who earned low wages lived
very poor lives.
The following items show just how poor some people were
at that time.
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| Source 3A | | |
| Source 3A This photograph
shows a woman with her baby. It was taken in her house about 1900
Click
to enlarge the images, then answer the following question.
Questions
- What evidence can you find to show that the house was very poor?
- What
evidence can you find to show that the woman was very poor?
- Do
you think that the baby was well looked after?
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| Source 3B | | |
| Source 3B Child Poverty
Some people who were very poor could ask to live in the Poor House. They had to
show that they were very poor indeed before they were given any help at all.
This is an application for help from an eighteen year old woman. It was written
in 1851 (1857?) but things did not change much over the next fifty years.
Click to enlarge the image, then answer the following question.
Questions
- What evidence can you find to show that
the house was very poor?
- What evidence can you find to show that
the people were very poor?
- Why had the people sold their clothes?
- Why
had Mary Gilmour given up her job?
- Do you think that Mary Gilmour
should be given help?
- Was Mary Gilmour given help?
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| Source 3C | | |
| Source 3C Baby Poster
Some women were so poor and so desperate that they abandoned their babies. This
meant that they would be sent to an Orphanage or a "Foundlings Home". Some parents
thought that the children would be better off living there.
This would
cost money, so great efforts were made to find the parents of the child. This
poster offered a reward for information which would help find them. Study it carefully
and then answer the questions below.
Click to enlarge the image, then
answer the following questions.
Questions
- When was the baby abandoned?
- Where was the baby abandoned?
- What
was the baby wearing?
- What evidence is there that the baby's mother
might not be poor?
- What do you think happened to the baby?
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