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Cited by 34Historical Economic and Social StudiesLabor market dynamics and wage inequalityEconomic Theory and Policy

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The Condition of England and the Standard of Living: Cotton Textiles in the Northwest, 1806–1850

Brown, John C.·1990·The Journal of Economic History
DOI 10.1017/s0022050700037177
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Abstract

This article examines the workers' standard of living in the cotton textile industry of Northwest England from 1806 to 1850. Hedonic earnings regressions using 1835 data suggest that power-loom weavers required substantial compensation for the high rents and poor sanitation of urban locations. Adjusting earnings in the factory sector for the impact of urbanization cuts growth in living standards by 10 percent, or up to one-quarter of gains realized by 1850. Inclusion of those employed in the handloom sector implies that any improvements in the living standards of all workers in the industry appeared only during the 1840s.

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  • By the 1830s weavers had become among the most poverty-stricken workers in northern England.

    “By the 1830s weavers had become “among the most poverty-stricken workers” in northern England (Brown, 1990, p. 610; Lyons, 1989, pp. 52, 62).”

    From The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto (1998) · cites this paper as Brown, 1990

  • In 1841 there were about 100,000 handloom weavers in Lancashire, representing nearly a third of the labor force in cotton textiles.

    “In 1841, there were still about 100,000 handloom weavers in Lancashire, representing nearly a third of the labor force in cotton textiles (Brown, 1990, p. 610).”

    From The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto (1998) · cites this paper as Brown, 1990

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Research works printed but not linked: 90

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  12. The compensation will actually equal the workers' valuation of conditions if differences across communities are capitalized entirely in wage rates and all workers have similar tastes. Those preferring other aspects of “country living” would require an even larger payment than those who chose to live in the city. See Henderson, “Interregional Welfare Differences,” pp. 36–44.
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  76. Marvel, “Factory Regulation,” p. 387. The data for FINES for the period 1834 to 1837 are from the Reports of the Inspectors of Factories, Parliamentary Papers, 1836, vol. 45; 1837, vol. 50; and 1837–1838, vol. 45.
  77. Walton, Social History of Lancashire, pp. 194–95; and Fleischman, Conditions of Life, pp. 329–35. RELIEF is the per capita amount “Expended for the Relief of the Poor” for 1835–1836 found in the Appendix, Second Annual Report of the Poor Law Commission, Parliamentary Papers, 1836, vol. 29.
  78. The survey includes earnings for three age groups: adults 18 years or older, teens 13 to 17 years, and children under 13 years. Of the 195 factories in the sample, 65 report a range of earnings for each age group that bracket what are apparently the average earnings reported for the remaining 130 factories. The age-earnings profile resulting from the wage regressions supports this interpretation. The predicted ratios of earnings of 9-, 12-, and 13-year-olds to 18-year-olds from the regressions for Manchester are all within 10 percent of the ratios found in Stanway's 1833 survey of children employed in factories in Stockport and Manchester in the “Report of the Factory Commission,” Parliamentary Papers, 1833, vol. 20, pp. Dl 87–88.
  79. Gayer, 1953, The Growth and Fluctuation of the British Economy. 1790–1850
  80. Bythell, Handloom Weavers, pp. 115–22. The output of a child weaver was typically less than one-half the output of an adult male.
  81. See Famie, English Cotton Industry, pp. 101–2.
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  84. Thompson, English Working Class, pp. 295–305, do contend that state intervention, whether through continuation of supplements to income under the Old Poor Law or mandating minimum earnings, would have been appropriate.
  85. 10.2307/2599511 · DOI
  86. Vigier, 1970, Change and Apathy: Liverpool and Manchester during the Industrial Revolution
  87. Fn. 20 provides the sources for the estimates for Ashton-under-Lyne and Preston.“The Return of the Average Rate of Expense of Combined Works of Drainage and Water Supply for Towns under the Public Health Act …,” House of Lords Papers, vol. 31, 1852, p. 305, suggests that these estimates are consistent with the actual costs reported for several unnamed towns.
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  90. Crafts, 1985, British Economic Growth during the Industrial Revolution, 105

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Metadata

Authors
Brown, J. C.
Affiliations
Clark University (US)
Corresponding author
Brown, John C.
ORCID
Brown, John C.
Venue
The Journal of Economic History
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1990-09
Volume
50
Issue
3
Pages
591-614
ISSN
  • 0022-0507 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-6372
DOI
10.1017/s0022050700037177
OpenAlex
W2149169189
Cited by
34
References
0
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
FWCI
7.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 6758 d)
Locations
  • The Journal of Economic History (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economic Theory and Policy
Keywords
cotton fabric, living standards, employee salaries, handloom weavers, urbanization, rental prices, sanitation, industrial workers, North West England, Industrial Revolution, 19th century

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