Diverty And The Limitations Of Poverty In Victorian London

Life in tenements was tough because as the population was increasing exponentially; the quality of life was becoming increasingly crowded and unsanitary. Since these buildings were in high demand, housing over two thirds of the population of New York, they were commonly made of cheap materials. Maks’ family’s rooms were not well made because “the ceiling is tin. The floor is wood. As for the walls, they’re all faded green with a few cracks” (Avi 54). The buildings themselves were packed with inhabitants so that the landlords could pack more money in their back pockets. The tenement flats were very dimly light, which left many lowlifes living in low light. There was a lack of light put on the subject, and some of the regulations to have better sanitation

By the late nineteenth century the economic lines in America between the upper and lower class were quickly widening because of the boom of urban industrial expansion. Moreover, during the 1800s, America witnessed an influx of immigrants coming from many parts of the world, they made tenement houses in New York’s lower East Side a common destination. One person witnessing the living conditions of these tenements was journalist Jacob A. Riis. For several years, Riis, with camera in hand, tooked a multitude of photographs that depicted the atrocious working and living conditions in the New York slums. Riss reported that the tenements were severely overcrowded, unsanitary, and a breeding ground

The book The Classic Slum: Salford Life in the First Quarter of the Century by Robert Roberts gives an honest account of a village in Manchester in the first 25 years of the 20th century. The title is a reference to a description used by Friedrich Engels to describe the area in his book Conditions of the Working Class. The University of Manchester Press first published Roberts' book in the year 1971. The more recent publication by Penguin Books contains 254 pages, including the appendices. The author gives a firsthand description of the extreme poverty that gripped the area in which he grew up. His unique perspective allows him to accurately describe the self-imposed caste system, the causes and effects of widespread poverty, and the

As the streets become crowded with the “begging mothers” and whining babies, slums multiply and worsen.

Well into the 19th century, poverty was widely seen as inevitable and somewhat good for economy an the higher class. Economists estimate that in 1820 nearly 84% of the earth’s population lived in absolute poverty with little to no chance of ever leaving that social class. Later, industrialization would help make the case for mass education, which raised individuals’ economic prospects. Over time, acceptance also grew for the construction of social safety nets and at least some income distribution among the wealthy an lower classes. Back in the history of time, people were still struggling within the equivalent of what we now call a dollar a day. With such a high percentage of couples, having young families at an early age without the security

This paper will explore three different theoretical approaches to addressing the homeless problem that plagues our society from three different social theorists in the historical context of Classical, modernist and postmodern. Karl Marx, a social theorist from the classical era challenged the status quo by illustrating the affect the rich bourgeoisie had on the proletariat. According to Marx the bourgeoisie which represented the rich oppressors, who exploited the working class. The distribution of wealth has always favored the wealthy at the expense of the proletariat. Homelessness was the unfortunate result of the worker’s beliefs and feelings their employers had their best interest in mind and their salaries reflected the value the employer placed on their performance. In reality, the employer was only interested in making a profit at the expense of the worker’s wellbeing. Lacking the ability of meeting all of the basic necessity of food and shelter, homelessness was the outcome. The conflict that exist between the minority groups are due to the biased distribution of wealth to which there are members of the dominant group, that are not part of the bourgeoisie, they are actually members of the proletariat (the working class that work

This Underclass is typified by factors such as generation poverty, dependence on welfare, ethnicity, lack of education, trauma, health issues, mental illness and poor diet, even before they experience homelessness. They lack the resources to resolve their situation on their own and combined with homelessness are likely to remain in this underclass even with assistance. As the housing becomes increasingly hard to afford, individuals are forced to source their accommodation in suburbs with high crime rates, lack of amenities and poor access to public transport which contributes to areas considered the “underclass'.

“Men of high social classes were expected to live honourable lives [Dr. Jekyll]. They live in smart houses in the rich west end”, normally the smartest areas of the city. This citation eludes the most fortunate people of the Victorian era. However, a few minutes walk from the rich west end laid a completely new London, SOHO, one of the poorest areas of London. In SOHO “dirty children roamed past ragged washing in the streets and criminals stalked the night [Mr. Hyde]”.

In Slumming by Chad Heap the author describes the true reality of slumming, and how it was more wide spread than what it appear just in the surface. Heap defines slumming, as he concentrate on cities like Chicago and New York, that were provide with entertainment. This entertainment would come from immigrants, blacks, gays and bohemians during a period of large scale immigration in this cities. The author explains in detail the culture of slumming, as well as how it helps to produce the sex/gender/racial system. Heap also argues how the different participants in slumming affect one another. The impact between the different interactions among different races, classes and gender was as well discussed in detail by the author. Finally Heap

The purpose of his article is to demonstrate what the lives of the lower class were really like. Beier’s article covers the opinions of the upper class towards vagrants, the reasons why vagrants were problematic during this time, how vagrants were treated, how they ended up in their situation, and how they coped as vagrants with little to no source of income. For his evidence, Beier relies heavily upon primary source documentation and population records, as well as other scholarly articles that provide insights on this group of people. Beier concludes his article by describing the true nature of a vagrant in Elizabethan England: “Squeezed as these people were by rising food prices and an economy that could not absorb their rising numbers, it is surprising that more did not hit the road. But that those who did were brutally punished in a society where the pursuit of self-interest was permitted to the elite minority” (29). The reality Beier recounts suggests a strict interpretation of the Great Chain of Being because the upper class rarely reached out to aid vagrants, and when they did, it was only to those who could not work, which was a small portion of the poor population. This strict social order demonstrates what happens when there is no social mobility and the members of the upper class only cares about their own self-interest. Beier’s article showcases the haunting

Victorian London was a charnel house of the dead; a city oozing horror and nowhere more so than a small chapel where they danced on the dead.

cruel conditions of poor people in Victorian England made this documentary a heart touching one , but it as well recalls in mind all those conditions that poor people here in all the 3rd world countries suffer, made it no way to compare the two cases to put the nowadays poor person in our worlds in the ultimate first place

In the Victorian Era of England, society was divided amongst three groups, or classes. These classes included the upper class, the middle class, and the lower, or working class. Classism during Victorian times, although widely accepted, caused many problems such as judgement and destitution. The Upper Class was made up of Dukes, Nobles, and other wealthy aristocrats.

The Maps provides a description of London’s Poverty, which exemplify the social cartography that draws attention to social circumstances to explain socialization from his point of view. Using Stanford’s 6 inches Map of London and Suburbs, the booth coloured each street as an indication of income and social class of its inhabitant. Additionally, the map used a primitive diverting colour scheme with black for the class (vicious, semi criminal inhabitant through dark blues and into reads and yellows (upper middle and upper classes wealthy). The neighborhood of colours deliberately is similar in color so illustrate social economics.

Historically poverty is irrefutably one of the largest driving factors for wide societies to express anxiety and fear throughout European society. The upsurge of begging and vagrancy during the Victorian era and extending into the 19th century drove society to involve the state to ideally control, and minimize both vagrancy and beggary. Prior to the 18th century, charity for the poor was commonly placed upon Christian parishes and citizen’s moral obligation to provide for those in destitution. Also, during that time religious obligation and a widespread understanding of misfortune governed the society’s attitudes towards the poor. Although, in 1700, the Vagrant Removal Costs Act removed the responsibility of paying for the removal of vagrants