Bread Winner: An Intimate History of the Victorian Economy
Emma Griffin
Abstract
Nineteenth-century Britain saw remarkable economic growth and a rise in real wages. But not everyone shared in the nation's wealth. Unable to earn a sufficient income themselves, working-class women were reliant on the ‘breadwinner wage’ of their husbands. When income failed, or was denied or squandered by errant men, families could be plunged into desperate poverty from which there was no escape. This book unlocks the homes of Victorian England to examine the lives — and finances — of the people who lived there. Drawing on over 600 working-class autobiographies, including more than 200 writte ... More
Nineteenth-century Britain saw remarkable economic growth and a rise in real wages. But not everyone shared in the nation's wealth. Unable to earn a sufficient income themselves, working-class women were reliant on the ‘breadwinner wage’ of their husbands. When income failed, or was denied or squandered by errant men, families could be plunged into desperate poverty from which there was no escape. This book unlocks the homes of Victorian England to examine the lives — and finances — of the people who lived there. Drawing on over 600 working-class autobiographies, including more than 200 written by women, the book changes our understanding of daily life in Victorian Britain.
Keywords:
working-class women,
breadwinner,
income,
poverty,
Victorian England,
Victorian Britain,
nineteenth-century Britain
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2020 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300230062 |
| Published to Yale Scholarship Online: September 2020 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300230062.001.0001 |
