A COUNTRY OF TWO NATIONS

In the mines

Coalbearing up ladders with « tubs » Janet Cumming, only 11 years old, working as a coalbearer at Sheriffhall or Somerside.  Load commonly weighed over 120lbs, and could be as high as 170lbs.   the height ascended and the distance along the roads added together, exceed the height of St. Paul's Cathedral; sometimesthe tugs broke and the load fell upon those females who are following.

Scavengers in the Textile Industry The small children had to pick loose cotton from under the machienery which was extremely dangerous as they carried out the task while the machines were still working

Carrying stones: parents were too poor to buy shoes for their children

Over 250 million children between 5-14 working in developing countries

They are forced to do hard labour…

Apple admits using children for ipods…

FACTORY ACTS 1874 Factory Act raised the minimum working age to nine; limited the working day for women and young people to 10 hours in the textile industry, to be between 6 am and 6 pm; and reduced the working week to 56½ hours.

AWARENESS…. Charles Booth Liverpool ship owner who originally believed that if people were poor it was their own fault. Between 1889 and 1903 he studied the life of the poor in London. His findings 'Life and Labour of the people in London' changed his opinion and he concluded that 30% of London's population was living in poverty. He used scientific methods and put people in classes. He worked out a 'poverty line‘ The scale of poverty he discovered could not be met by charity alone. The reasons for poverty were not necessarily a person's own fault. Life cycle of poverty

CHARLES BOOTH: HIS POVERTY LINE He used scientific methods and put people in classes. He worked out a 'poverty line‘ The scale of poverty he discovered could not be met by charity alone. The reasons for poverty were not necessarily a person's own fault. Life cycle of poverty The seven classes are described on the legend to the maps as follows: BLACK: Lowest class. Vicious, semi-criminal. DARK BLUE: Very poor, casual. Chronic want. LIGHT BLUE: Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family PURPLE: Mixed. Some comfortable others poor PINK: Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings. RED: Middle class. Well-to-do. YELLOW: Upper-middle and Upper classes.

Bethnal Green road – East London