Family

What was family life like?

The average size of a family in the 1900s was much larger than the families of today due to the lack of contraception. Meaning, for poor families, homes could be very cramped and could have around 10 people in a home with only 2-3 rooms. Children did not have much time to be children, many saw their children as wage earners, so when families could no longer sent their children to school and they would send their children to work at the factories to earn money for their poor families. Because many did not go to school for a very long time, some believed they did not build a sense a discipline and often ended up in ganged filled with drunken violence and rowdy behaviour in the streets. This behaviour was common in the early 20th century and those young men were commonly referred to as ‘Larkins’. Many poor families did not have enough money for food, for thy also had to pay their rent and (commonly) the factories they worked at did not pay very well. This would be almost the opposite for the rich families. They did not have to work as hard for little pay, or pay a rent so they could spend more time together as a family. Children could play in their back yards and not have to start work from such a young age. Their houses would not be cramped and often two stories. They would often be more educated because they did not have to leave school at the age of 12 to work and were less likely to join a gang. Food was plentiful and many rich families would throw garden parties or play sport that would be reserved for the rich. But, they would still have a family of such a large size, just a larger amount of space compared to the poor. Women of the time would usually work at the factories too in the poor classes, but not as much in the higher classes. Once a women got married she had a choice to stay at home or to continue working, but many just stayed at home and did house work (or their maids did!)Some other work the rich women would do would be to do works for charities.