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- Title
Small Town Aristocrats of Labour and Their Standard of Living, 1840-1914.
- Authors
Hopkins, Eric
- Abstract
This article focuses on an investigation of the standard of living of small-town glass makers in the late 19th century England. It is generally accepted that after the early 1840's real wages recovered and made modest progress in the fifties and sixties. This was marked in the case of the skilled worker, but applied less to unskilled workers, particularly the general labourer. At this time, and indeed until the 1880's, the skilled worker maintained the differential between his wage and that of the unskilled classes, though differentials may have decreased thereafter as educational opportunities widened. Since very little appears to have been done over the past few years to check these broad generalizations against wage movements in particular areas, it is proposed to survey the fortunes of the Stourbridge glass makers in the period 1840-1914, separately at first and then in comparison with other trades in the town, which was well known in the nineteenth century not only for its glass but also for its iron, firebrick, and extractive industries.
- Subjects
STANDARD of living; GLASS industry; WAGES; EMPLOYEES; INDUSTRIAL surveys; PURCHASING power
- Publication
Economic History Review, 1975, Vol 28, Issue 2, p222
- ISSN
0013-0117
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2593485