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In the old world we must confess ourselves unable to find any satisfactory record of any great nation, past or present, in which the working classes have been in a more comfortable situation than in England during the last thirty years. Lord Macaulay (1830)
If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?
Nostalgia is not what it used to be.
Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.
Life expectancy has increased from historical levels which were appallingly low, viewed from a current perspective, although it was then the acceptable norm in an England that was the richest country in the world.
Extract from The British Population by Colman and Salt
Life expectancy at birth was about 35/36 in the eighteenth century increasing to 36/37 in 1801 and 49 in 1901. All research shows the life expectancy for women is higher than for men.
There were wide variations in life expectancy due to social class and whether residing in a rural or urban area.
The ages shown in the following table are not the same as "expectation of life at birth"; they are slightly lower than expectation of life, to the extent that the population was growing. All the figures are adversely affected by the high rate of infant mortality (deaths under one year of age). About one baby in six failed to survive to their first birthday. The infant mortality rate had hardly changed by 1901.
Average Age At Death 1837-1840
| R U R A L | U R B A N | ||||||
| Class | Wiltshire | Rutland | Bolton | Leeds | Liverpool | Whitechapel | Manchester |
| A
B C |
50
48 33 |
52
41 38 |
34
23 18 |
44
27 19 |
35
22 15 |
45
27 22 |
38
20 17 |
| Average | 19 | 21 | 17 | 25 | 18 | ||
Each class includes their family:
A = Gentlemen & professional persons. B = Tradesmen. C = Mechanics &
labourers
Source: Chadwick 1842 (ed. Flinn 1965)
In the 1880s three out of four people died under the age of 40, one out of two
people died under the age of 20, and one in every six babies died in its first
year. The very cheapest burial for a child was at least one and a half weeks
wages for the lower working class, who formed one third of the population. Most
babies were born at home, which was seven times safer than going in to hospital.
One in 29 hospital births ended in the mother’s death, compared with one in
212 home births.
Percentage Distribution Of Deaths By Age Group
England And Wales
| Age | 1838-1844 | 1975 |
0-14 15-64 65+ |
47 34 19 |
2 23 75 |
Source: OPCS (1978a), table 1.2, Crown Copyright