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Social Structure in the Late 19th Century: Middle and Working Classes

Explore the dynamics of the Middle and Working Classes in the late 19th century, including their growth, characteristics, and evolving family structures. Learn about the rise of the Middle Class and their emphasis on property, education, and respectability alongside the Working Class's diverse occupations. Discover societal shifts, gender roles, and child-rearing practices that defined this era.

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Social Structure in the Late 19th Century: Middle and Working Classes

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  1. Chapter 24-2 Late 19th Century Social Structure

  2. Second ½ of 19th Century • Increase in the standard of living • Still big gap between working class and wealthy • “Golden Age of the Middle Class” • In England 1820-1850 Wages and consumption increased by 50%

  3. Growing demand for experts with specialized knowledge • New Professionals: Engineers, architects, chemists, accountants, surveyors • Managers of large public and private institutions • Expansion and diversification of the lower middle class: • Increase of white-collar employees: Salesmen, bookkeepers, store managers, clerks • Increase in independent property-owning shopkeepers

  4. Society more diversified but less unified The Middle Class Western Europe: 15-12% of population Eastern Europe less • Only 2% in Russia • Nobles dominated business

  5. Upper Middle Class • Bankers • Industrial leaders • Top government officials • Large scale commerce • Employed several servants

  6. Upper Middle Class • Smaller businessmen • Professionals • Merchants • Doctors • Lawyers • Civil servants • Employed at least one sercant: cook or maid

  7. Lower Middle Class: Petite Bourgeoisie • Independent shopkeepers • Small merchants • Store managers • Minor civil servants • Teachers • Clerks • Some master craftsmen (like goldsmiths)

  8. Lower Middle Class continued • Grew from about 7% of population to 20% in 1900 • Women: department store clerks, stenographers, secretaries, waitresses, nurses • Women held more than ½ of post office and government clerk jobs in 1911

  9. Characteristics of the Middle Class: • Believed in classical Liberalism • Sought protection of property in constitutional assemblies (British Parliament, French Chamber of Deputies) • Gained political influence with increased property ownership (linked to voting rights)

  10. Characteristics of Middle Class continued • Emphasized individual liberty and respectability based on economic success • Clearest goal: Expanding the family’s fortune was the way to respectability • The family was the foundation of the social order

  11. Characteristics of the Middle Classcontinued • Education and religion extremely important • Evangelical Protestantism especially in Eng;and, Netherlands, some German States • Catholicism in France • Strong feelings of nationalism

  12. Working Class continued • Highly Skilled: (15% of pop) Labor Aristocracy • Construction bosses, foremen, highly skilled craftsmen • Semi-skilled: • Carpenters, bricklayers, successful factory workers • Unskilled and domestic servants • (most women)

  13. The Working Class: • 80 % of population • Many were peasants and hired hands (especially in Eastern Europe) • Less unified and homogenous than Middle Class • Highly Skilled • Semi-skilled • Unskilled

  14. Working Class continued • By 1900 over ½ of all working women in England were domestic servants • 1874 Children 14% of all textile factory workers

  15. The Family • By 1850 Romantic love became the most important reason for marriage • Rising standard of living, better economy = younger marriages • BUT economic status was still important • Also...remember respectability…

  16. The Family continued • Middle Class females monitored closely by parents • Chastity was paramount • Middle Class boys …not so much

  17. The Family continued • Rate of illegitimacy decreased after 1850 • Premarital sex still common but couples “in trouble” tended to marry • Middle Class emphasized fidelity in marriage • HOWEVER most of the customers of prostitutes were middle and upper class men

  18. The Family continued • After 1850 increasingly distince gender roles • Husbands were the primary wage-earners • Wife dominated the home • Child-rearing became more child-centered • Middle Class women began to resist their second-class status • Demand for education, employment, laws

  19. Middle Class Child-Rearing • Lower mortality rates for children = parents more emotionally involved • Mothers increasingly breastfed their own infants • Lower rate of illegitimacy • Fewer children abandoned to foundling hospitals • Decrease in number of children in families

  20. Middle Class Child-Rearing continued • Increase in the number of books published on child-rearing • Middle Class parents intent on improving the economic and social condition of children

  21. Working Class Child-Rearing • Working class children did not remain economically dependent on their families • Boys and girls went to work after adolescence • Broke from families when emotional ties became oppressive (all unlike middle class) • In 20th century middle-class youth will follow above pattern

  22. Life in the fin de siecle 1895-1914 Belle Epoque (The Good Old Days) • Increased standard of living in all industrial countries • But better living conditions in Northern Europe (Britain, France, Germany) than Southern or Eastern Europe

  23. Life at the end of the Century continued • Gradually people enjoyed higher wages and lower prices for food • Britain 1850-1900 wages almost doubled • More money spent on clothing • Meat consumption increased dramatically • Increased money and increased leisure time

  24. Increased Consumption • Sports: increased # of spectators and participants • Increase in sports clubs • Soccer (football), rugby, bicycle and auto races, track and field • 1890’s: huge bicycle craze

  25. Women and Sports • Increasing numbers of women active in sports clubs and bicycling • Gradually women abandoned their restrictive slothing for dresses that allowed for more movement

  26. Sports continued • The emergence of the sports culture mirrored the growth of aggressive nationalism in the late 19th century • Some Social Darwinists believed that sports conpetition confirmed the superiority of certain racial groups

  27. Other Leisure Activities • Increased patronage of cafes and taverns in cities and towns • Department Stores mainly frequented by the middle class • Paris: dance halls, concerts, plays

  28. New Inventions • Telephone • Automobile • Gramophone • Radio • Motion Pictures

  29. Education • The State’s role in education increased = more secularization of society • Decreased the influence of organized religion • Increased the emphasis of loyality and service to the state

  30. Education continued • England: all children 5-12 required to attend primary school: Free • France: The Ferry Laws required children 3-13 to attend primary schools: Free

  31. Increased Literacy • Men had higher rates than women • Urbanites more literate than rural folks • Northern and Western Europe more literate than Southern and Eastern • 1900: Germany 99%...Russia 25% • Girls less access to higher ed than boys • Families had to pay • BUT could improve marriage prospects

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