Britain's slumdogs: The ragged and filthy East End children of just 100 years ago living a life of grime, Daily Mail, July 21st 2011
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017054/Britains-Slumdogs-The-ragged-filthy-East-London-children-just-100-years-ago-living-life-grime.html#ixzz1froCDU4T
Now the Daily Mail is not my newspaper of choice and the headline of the story on child poverty at the beginning of the 20th century is to say the least questionable. But the story and the accompanying pictures are a reminder that at this time of year there were those who did not and many who today will not share in a pleasant Christmas.
There are those who might question the motive behind the pictures, but it is as well to remember that in those early years of the 20th century we were a rich country even if not all shared in that wealth.
Between 1889 and 1910 the cost of food rose by 10 per cent and the cost of coal by 18 per cent. The life expectancy for working men was just 50 years of age and 54 for women, five per cent of children aged between 10 and 14 were already at work and the richest one percent held 70 percent of the wealth.
Picture; taken by photographer Horace Warner 100 years ago in Spitalfields in London’s East End, were later used by social campaigners to illustrate the plight of the poorest children in London.
Now the Daily Mail is not my newspaper of choice and the headline of the story on child poverty at the beginning of the 20th century is to say the least questionable. But the story and the accompanying pictures are a reminder that at this time of year there were those who did not and many who today will not share in a pleasant Christmas.
There are those who might question the motive behind the pictures, but it is as well to remember that in those early years of the 20th century we were a rich country even if not all shared in that wealth.
Between 1889 and 1910 the cost of food rose by 10 per cent and the cost of coal by 18 per cent. The life expectancy for working men was just 50 years of age and 54 for women, five per cent of children aged between 10 and 14 were already at work and the richest one percent held 70 percent of the wealth.
Picture; taken by photographer Horace Warner 100 years ago in Spitalfields in London’s East End, were later used by social campaigners to illustrate the plight of the poorest children in London.
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