THE PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK
There is a large class of people who get less than 18s. a week, because
they get irregular work. There is also a class of people who get a
regular wage which does not rise above 18s. They get 14s., or 15s., and
are generally supposed to be doing a boy’s job. Men sometimes answer an
advertisement for a boy’s place and take it rather then go unemployed
altogether. The firms who pay by the day often have men receiving 3s. or
3s. 6d. a day and doing three days a week. In many ways it is possible
for a man to get less than 18s. a week. He need not be a drunkard or a
slacker. He may have been ill and lost his regular job. His employer may
have sold the business. The works on which he was employed may suddenly
finish. He finds himself out of work and, having no money in hand, he is
forced to take anything he can get in order to keep his children from
the workhouse. It has been possible to follow the fortunes of a certain
number of cases who, for one or other of these reasons, fell out of
work. Their subsequent struggles afford material with which to probe the
mystery of how such people manage.
Mr. Q., a carter out of work through illness, got an odd job once or
twice in the week. His wages had been 24s. Six children were born, of
whom five were alive.
_July 7, 1910, had earned 5s. 5d._
s. d.
Rent goes unpaid
Insurance lapsed
Coal 0 2
Soap, soda 0 4
Gas 0 6
Matches 0 1
Blacklead 0 0½
-----
1 1½
_Leaving for Food, 4s. 3½d._
s. d.
9 loaves 2 0¾
Meat 0 9
Potatoes 0 3
Vegetables 0 1
Margarine 0 1¾
3 ozs. tea 0 3
Tinned milk none
1½ lbs. sugar 0 3
Dripping 0 6
-----
4 3½
Or an average per head for food of 7¼d. a week, or 1d. a day.
_July 14, had earned 15s. 10d._
s. d.
Rent (two weeks) 11 0
Insurance lapsed
Coal 0 2
Gas 0 5
Soap, soda, blue 0 4½
Wood 0 0½
------
12 0
_Leaving for Food, 3s. 10d._
s. d.
7 loaves 1 7¼
Meat 0 6
Potatoes 0 3½
Vegetables 0 1
Margarine --
4 ozs. tea 0 4
Tinned milk --
1½ lbs. sugar 0 3
Dripping 0 6
1 lb. jam 0 3¼
-----
3 10
Or an average per head for food of 6½d. a week, or less than 1d. a day.
Mr. I., bottle washer, out of work through illness, wife earned what she
could. Wages 18s. when in work. One child born, one alive.
August 10, 1910, Mrs. I. had earned 2s. 6d.
Rent Went unpaid.
Insurance Lapsed.
Coal --
Lamp oil --
Soap, soda --
--------
Nothing.
Mrs. I. was told by infirmary doctor to feed her husband up.
s. d.
3 loaves 0 8¼
Meat 1 1
Potatoes 0 3
Vegetables 0 0¾
3 ozs. tea 0 3
1 lb. sugar 0 2
-----
2 6
Average per head for food 10d., or 1½d. a day.
August 17, Mrs. I. had earned 3s. 6d.
s. d.
Rent Went unpaid.
Insurance --
Coal 0 4
Lamp oil 0 2
Soap 0 2
Firewood 0 1
----
0 9
Mrs. I. still feeding her husband up.
s. d.
4 loaves 0 11
Meat 1 0
Potatoes 0 2
Vegetables 0 1
1 oz. tea 0 1
1½ lbs. sugar 0 3
Margarine 0 3
----
2 9
Average per head for food 11d., or 1-4/7d. per day.
When Mr. I. could earn again, his back rent amounted to 15s. He found
work in the north of London, he living south of Kennington Park. He
walked to and from his work every day, refusing to move because he and
his wife were known in Kennington, and rather than see them go into the
“house,” their friends would help them through a bad spell.
Mr. J., carter out of work through illness, took out an organ when well
enough to push it. Wages 18s. when in work. Six children born, six alive.
January 26, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. J. had earned between them 9s.
February 2, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. J. had earned between them 7s.
February 9, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. J. had earned between them 8s.
10d.
February 16, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. J. had earned between them 9s.
February 23, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. J. had earned between them 7s.
6d.
+----------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+----------+
| |Jan. 26.| Feb. 2.| Feb. 9.| Feb. 16.| Feb. 23. |
+----------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+----------+
| | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. |
|Rent | 5 6 | 3 0 | 5 6 | 5 6 | 3 6 |
|Coal | 0 6 | 0 6 | 0 4 | 0 6 | 0 6 |
|Wood | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1½ |
|Lamp oil | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1 | 0 1½ |
|Soap, soda | 0 2 | 0 2 | 0 2 | 0 2 | 0 4 |
| | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- |
| | 6 4 | 3 10 | 6 2 | 6 4 | 4 7 |
|Leaving for food| 2 8 | 3 2 | 2 8 | 2 8 | 2 11 |
|Average for food| | | | | |
| per head a week| | almost | | | |
| in holidays | 0 4 | 5d. | 0 4 | 0 4 | 0 4½ |
+----------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+----------+
Those children who were of school age in these three families were fed
once a day for five days a week during term-time. None of the children
were earning. The three women were extremely clean, and, as far as their
wretched means would allow, were good managers. It is impossible to lay
out to advantage money which comes in spasmodically and belated, so that
some urgent need must be attended to with each penny as it is earned.
After a certain point of starvation food must come first, though before
that point is reached it is extraordinary how often rent seems to be made
a first charge on wages.
Mr. V. worked for a relative who was in business in a very small way.
For driving a little one-horse cart his usual wage was only 18s., and
when the business fell off Mr. V. found himself getting three days a
week instead of six. Later on he got half days and odd days, which only
produced a few shillings all told. He tried on off days to get odd jobs
of any sort. Four children had been born, of whom two were living.
January 12, 1910, to January 19, he earned 8s. 2½d.
s. d.
Rent (one room at a weekly rental of 3s. 9d.) 2 9
Coal 1 4
Wood 0 1
Lamp oil 0 3
Soap, soda 0 2
----
4 7
Leaving 3s. 7½d. for food, which is nearly 11d. a head per week, or 1½d.
a day all round the family.
Between January 19 and 26 Mr. V. earned 4s. 8d.
s. d.
Rent 2 3
Coal 0 6
Wood 0 1
Lamp oil 0 1½
Soap, soda 0 1½
-----
3 1
Leaving 1s. 7d. for food.
Friendly neighbours gave a little bread and Mr. V. had some meals at a
cabman’s shelter in return for calling drivers when fares wanted them.
On January 27 he opened the cab-door for a lady, who gave him 2d. The
police were watching him and he was arrested for begging. The visitor was
enabled to see the charge sheet and speak in his favour. He was a week on
remand, and three days in prison. His wife borrowed 5s. from sympathetic
neighbours.
s. d.
Rent (of which 2s. 6d. was back rent) 3 9
Wood 0 1
Coal 0 4
----
4 2
Leaving 10d. for food for three people. Again neighbours came to the
rescue, and Mrs. V. received broken bread and several cups of tea. She
spent the 10d. thus:
s. d.
Bread 0 7¾
Sugar 0 1
Butter 0 1
2 potatoes 0 0¼
-----
0 10
When Mr. V. came out of prison he managed to earn 7s. 10½d.
s. d.
Rent 3 0
Coal 1 4
Lamp oil 0 3
Wood 0 1
Soap 0 1½
-----
4 9½
Leaving for food 3s. 1d., which gives an average of 9¼d. per head a week,
or between 1¼d. and 1½d. a day.
The following four weeks the money earned was 8s. 1d., 7s. 1½d., 6s. 9d.,
and 10s. 7d. The averages per head a week for food were 9¼d., 8d., 7d.,
and 1s. 2½d. respectively. The rent had fallen 4s. into arrears, and Mrs.
V. still owed the 5s. borrowed when her husband went to prison.
Mr. O., a carpenter working in a theatre and earning 30s., lost his job
because his foreman quarrelled with the management and went out, taking
all his men. Mr. O. got taken on as extra hand in another theatre and was
paid 2s. a performance. Out of his 14s. he allowed his wife 13s. Mrs. O.,
being landlady of their house, was responsible for 16s. a week in rent.
Two lodgers paid 6s. and 4s. for two rooms and one room respectively.
Three children had been born, of whom two were alive.
January 25, 1911.
s. d.
Rent 6 0
Coal (very cold weather) 0 8½
Burial insurance 0 7
Gas 0 6
Wood and matches 0 3
-----
8 0½
Leaving for food 4s. 11½d. Mr. O. had to manage on 2s. 6d. a week for
food, which left his wife and the two boys just under 2s. 6d. between
them, or 10d. a week each.
February 1.
s. d.
Rent 6 0
Coal 0 8½
Burial insurance 0 7
Gas 0 9
Soap, soda 0 2
Coke 0 2
-----
8 4½
Leaving for food 4s. 7½d., which meant 2s. 1½d. for the wife and
children, an average for them of 8½d. a week per head, or 1¼d. a day.
February 8.
s. d.
Rent 6 0
Coal 0 8½
Burial insurance 0 7
Gas 1 0
Wood, matches 0 2
Soap, soda 0 3½
-----
8 9
Leaving for food 4s. 3d. This week Mrs. O. was prematurely confined of
twins. Both died, and the case was automatically concluded. When Mrs. O.
recovered she found a place as assistant “dresser” in a theatre. Her two
boys were taken care of by their grandmother, and the household struggled
back to something like its previous income.
Mr. U., who lost his work because his employer wound up the business,
was a steady, well-educated man. He was obliged to do odd jobs between
long tramps to find a fresh billet. There were five children born, all
living, but very delicate. Mrs. U. had managed by dint of extraordinary
and penurious thrift to save £1 19s. 8¼d. when the crash came.
July 6, 1910, money earned 23s. 7d.
s. d.
Rent 7 6
Burial insurance 0 7
Coal 0 7½
Gas 1 0
Soap, soda 0 4¼
Boots repaired 2 6
Hat 1 0¾
------
13 7½
Mrs. U. managed to do on 22s. 9¾d., whereby she saved 9¼d. and spent 9s.
2¼d. upon food, which means an average all round the family of 1s. 3¾d.
per week, or 2¼d. a day. Mr. U. took no fixed sum for his food. His wife
did the best she could for him and thought it cost her about 4d. a day,
but was not sure.
The savings had now mounted to £2 0s. 5½d., but the next week the amount
brought in was only 12s. 7d.
July 13.
s. d.
Rent 7 6
Burial insurance 0 7
Soap, soda 0 3½
Blacking 0 0½
Gas (no coal) 1 0
------
9 5
Mrs. U. managed on 17s. 6¾d. for the week, which left 8s. 1¾d. for food,
or a weekly average all round the family of almost 1s. 2d., or 2d. a day,
and depleted the savings to the amount of 4s. 11¾d. The reserve fund now
stood at £1 15s. 5¾d.
Next week Mr. U. made 19s. 7d., but one of the children won a prize of
2s., which gives 21s. 7d.
July 20.
s. d.
Rent 7 6
Burial insurance 0 7
Soap, soda 0 3
Gas (still no coal) 1 0
Boy’s boots 2 6½
------
11 10½
Mrs. U. managed on £1 0s. 9d., which allowed 8s. 10½d. for food, an
average all round of almost 1s. 3¼d., or just over 2d. a day. Tenpence
was saved and the reserve fund went up to £1 16s. 3¾d.
July 27, 15s. 7d. was earned, and 18s. 3¼d. was spent, of which 8s. 11d.
went on food, an average all round of 1s. 3¼d., or slightly over 2d. a
day. The fund went down to £1 13s. 7½d.
August 3rd, 17s. 1d. was earned, and 18s. 2½d. was spent, of which 8s.
9¼d. was spent on food, an average all round of 1s. 3d., or just over 2d.
a day. The fund sank to £1 12s. 6d.
August 10, only 8s. 7d. was earned and 16s. 11¾d. was spent, of which 7s.
1¼d. went on food, an average all round of 1s. 0¼d. or 1¾d. a day. The
fund was reduced to £1 4s. 1¼d.
August 17, 13s. 7d. was earned, and 16s. 0½d. was spent, of which 6s.
9½d. was spent on food, an average all round of between 11½d. and 11¾d.,
or less than 1¾d. a day. The fund sank to £1 1s. 7¾d.
August 24, the food average all round was 10¾d., or 1½d. a day, and the
fund sank to 19s. 6d.
August 31. The food average all round was just under 1s., or 1¾d. a day,
and the fund sank to 17s. 11½d.
Terror of using up the fund completely kept Mrs. U. spending an average,
all round the family, of under 1s. a week for many weeks, though the
earnings increased again slowly, and the fund mounted by pennies and
sixpences to £1 6s. 0d. Then the baby was a year old, and the case came
to an end. Mr. U. eventually got work again at a very low but regular
wage. During this time of unemployment two of the three children of
school age were fed at school for one term. The care committee of the
school to which the other child went did not consider the case bad
enough, and the two who did get fed were only received after weeks of
application. The mother’s very virtues told against her. Her rooms were
spotless, the decent furniture, the tidy clothes of better days inclined
the school visitor to believe that food could be forthcoming did the
mother choose.
Mrs. X., a deserted wife with three children, fell out of work owing
to a dangerous illness after the birth of her baby. When she recovered
sufficiently to work again, the parish relief, which she had been
receiving in kind during her illness, stopped. She took in sewing and did
days’ washing and cleaned doorsteps.
October 11, 1911, received 5s. 6d.
Rent (4s. a week) Went unpaid.
s. d.
Coal 0 5½
Gas 0 3
Fares to work 0 1
Soap, soda, blue (she supplied her
own blue and soap when she did
washing) 0 4
-----
1 1½
FOOD.
5 loaves 1 0½
Meat 0 11½
Margarine 0 4
Potatoes 0 3½
Greens 0 1
Sugar 0 2¾
Quaker oats 0 7½
Tea 0 3
Fish 0 4½
1 tin milk 0 2
Salt 0 0¼
-----
4 4½
The baby was receiving six quarts of milk a week from friends, so we have
4s. 4½d. left to feed three persons—an average of 1s. 5½d., or 2½d. a day.
October 18, amount received 7s. 6d.
s. d.
Rent 4 0
Gas 0 3
Coal 0 7
Matches 0 0½
Soap, soda, etc. 0 3
Camphorated oil (child with a cough) 0 2
-----
5 3½
FOOD.
4 loaves 0 10
Sugar 0 2¾
Dripping 0 2
Meat 0 4
Potatoes 0 3
Fish 0 1¾
Tea 0 1
1 tin milk 0 2
-----
2 2½
We have here 2s. 2½d. left between three persons—an average of 8¾d. a
week or 1¼d. a day.
November 1, 10s. was received. The rent was one week behind.
s. d.
Rent (two weeks; the landlady
downstairs was pressing) 8 0
Hat and socks 0 2
Soap, soda, etc. 0 2½
-----
8 4½
No coal, no gas. The great bargain of hat and socks for 2d. could not be
passed by.
s. d.
3 loaves 0 7½
1 tin of milk 0 1
Potatoes 0 2
Dripping 0 3
Tea 0 1
Meat 0 4
Fish 0 2
Onions 0 2
Sugar 0 2
Salt and pepper 0 1
-----
2 1½
In this instance we have 2s. 1½d. to divide between three persons—an
average of 8½d. a week, or 1¼d. a day.
This woman eventually became an office cleaner at 12s. a week, and her
case is referred to in a previous chapter.
However steady a man may be, however good a worker, he is never exempt
from the fear of losing his job from ill-health or from other causes
which are out of his control. His difficulty in getting into new work
is often very great, because new work in his own trade requires time
and patience to find. He may have to tramp from one place of business
to another day after day, and week after week. His trouble is that if
he spends the whole of his time doing this no money is coming in, and
he and his must live. He is therefore forced to take odd jobs which
bring in something, but which spoil his chances of regular work. Numbers
of men who have a trade lose it, because they cannot afford the time
necessary to find a new job of the same kind as the one they have lost.
They are forced to take anything that turns up in order to keep afloat
at all. So the friendly foreman who says, “You turn up every morning at
seven o’clock, and I’ll call for you when I want a hand,” finds when
he does call several days later that the man is not there. No amount
of explaining next day that in order to keep his family he did a day’s
work unloading a barge or sweeping snow is of avail against the fact
that another man has got the job. Meantime, his clothes and his very
muscles are depreciating, and work in his own trade becomes almost an
impossibility to find. In some employments, where it is a common custom
to give a man two, or three, or four days’ work a week and pay him by
the day, it is demanded that he should turn up every day of the week and
wait for his work, or lose the few days he has the chance of getting. The
carters in certain well-known West End firms are employed on these terms.
In many employments there are a number of extra men who take duty when
the regular man has a holiday or fails to appear. These extra men live
a life of great poverty and great uncertainty. The work they do may be
skilled, and they are bound to keep their hand in, and bound to appear
daily in order to secure a few days a week for a wage which would be
barely sufficient did they get six full days. The lives of the children
of the poor are shortened, and the bodies of the children of the poor are
stunted and starved on a low wage. And to the insufficiency of a low wage
is added the horror that it is never secure.