Problems of Poverty

Wages, household budgets and the uneven division of national income provide the starting point for J. A. Hobson's inquiry into poverty in Great Britain. Drawing on Charles Booth's studies and other statistical sources, he asks how industrial life places working families under pressure. His discussion distinguishes between averages and the much harsher circumstances of households facing illness, lost employment or dependence on a single earner.

The chapters examine machinery, movement into large towns, sweatshops, women's work and proposed reforms. In the discussion of trade unions, Hobson weighs the bargaining power of organized workers against the difficulties faced by unemployed people competing for jobs. He writes for citizens who want to connect economic evidence with social responsibility. Readers can use this study to trace how arguments about wages, insecure work and practical remedies were framed within an earlier industrial society.