Standard of living debate

    Cards (7)

    • Optimistic view:
      increase In output of manufacturing industry even when measured against the rise in population suggesting the greater availability of goods
    • Optimistic view:
      more people had a wage due to the proportion of the total working population employed in the manufacturing industry increase
    • pessimistic view:
      poor living and working conditions in the industrial towns negated any positive effects of the rise in wages
    • there are insufficient statistics to compare money wages against prices
    • As grain became scarce, the price rose from £2.70 to an average of £4.70 and in 1812 reached a peak of £6.30 - although wages were increasing, the price of both good and manufactured goods raised more quickly
    • pessimistic - taxation increased between 1793 and 1815 but in 1789 a tax on incomes was introduced which was unpopular with the wealthier classes
    • standard of living was beginning to improve but it was interrupted by the war in France
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