Victorian Era Research Project
Stuart Whitehead, Bethany Thornell, English 10 Hon., 3-20-15
Average Wages
Determining an average wage for the Victorian Era would be very hard to make because of the rise and fall that economy went through. A reasonable estimate is most of the middle class jobs received about two-hundred to three-hundred pounds which is about twenty-thousand to thirty-thousand dollar today. During that time many people did not earn anything that was close to that and many ended up being homeless. People in England today make much more money amount then they used to during the Era. This is probably due to the better job opportunities and better wages.
Life Expectancy
The average life expectancy was low compared to the life expectancy today. As the Victorian Era began, people were only living to be in their thirties and by the end of the era people were living to be about forty. Currently, the life expectancy is from the seventy to eighty years old. The life expectancy was very low during the Victorian Era because of the working conditions and the amount of hours they had to work. Now people are able to live longer because they are not having to work nearly as much as they had to during the Victorian Era.
Types of Housing
Housing during the Victorian Era was very scarce because the population was growing. In larger areas they had slums due to overcrowding of people. Since wages were low, people were not able to afford housing and many people ended up being homeless. Today, most people live in a house and do not have to worry about not having enough space for a house. Housing today is much easier to find than in the Victorian Era because there is more space for houses to be built and less homelessness than there was.
Bibliography
Daniels, Barbara. “Poverty and Families in the Victorian Era.” hiddenlives.org.uk. The Children’s Society, March 2003. Web. 19 March 2015.
Evans, Eric. “Overview: Victorian Britain, 1837 – 1901.” BBC.co.uk. BBC, 29 March 2011. Web. 19 March 2015.
Skipper, James and George P. Landow. “Wages and Cost of Living in the Victorian Era.” Victorianweb.org. George P. Landow. 16 July 2003. Web. 19 March 2015.