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Some dimensions of the 'quality of life' during the British industrial revolution

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  • Crafts, Nicholas
Abstract
The paper sets out estimates for various aspects of well-being during British industrialisation. Judgements about changes in living standards are shown to be sensitive to weighting procedures. It is argued that recent participants in the famous standards of living controversy have assigned undue importance to trends in heights and that concern for quality of life rather than real wages need not imply a pessimistic view of changes in aggregate well-being during the industrial revolution. Urban mortality experience is shown to be the least satisfactory aspect of well-being and it is suggested that this reflects difficulties of financing local public goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Crafts, Nicholas, 1997. "Some dimensions of the 'quality of life' during the British industrial revolution," Economic History Working Papers 20349, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:wpaper:20349
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. P. Antipa & C. Chamley, 2017. "Monetary and Fiscal Policy in England during the French Wars (1793-1821)," Working papers 627, Banque de France.
    2. Robert W. Fogel, 2008. "The Impact of the Asian Miracle on the Theory of Economic Growth," NBER Chapters, in: Understanding Long-Run Economic Growth: Geography, Institutions, and the Knowledge Economy, pages 311-354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Hasan, Lubna, 2007. "On Measuring the Complexity of Urban Living," MPRA Paper 7413, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Oswald, Andrew J, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1815-1831, November.
    6. José Joaquín García-Gómez & Antonio Escudero Gutierrez, 2018. "The Standard of Living of the Workers in a Spanish Industrial Town: Wages, Nutrition, Life Expentancy and Heigth in Alcoy (1870–1930)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 347-367, November.
    7. Nicholas Crafts, 1998. "Forging Ahead and Falling Behind: The Rise and Relative Decline of the First Industrial Nation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 193-210, Spring.
    8. George R. Boyer, 1998. "The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 151-174, Fall.
    9. Nicola Amendola & Giacomo Gabbuti & Giovanni Vecchi, 2018. "On the use of composite indices in economic history. Lessons from Italy, 1861-2017," HHB Working Papers Series 11, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    10. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2021. "Augmented human development in the age of globalization," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 946-975, November.
    11. Ian Webster, 2022. "Making the municipal capital market in nineteenth‐century England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 56-79, February.
    12. Sue Bowden & Blessing Chiripanhura & Paul Mosley, 2008. "Measuring and explaining poverty in six African countries: A long-period approach," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(8), pages 1049-1079.
    13. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Hypertension and happiness across nations," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 218-233, March.
    14. Stanislav Holubec & Béla Tomka, 2023. "Human Development Index: Changes in East Central Europe, 1913-2010," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2023(2), pages 130-152.
    15. Sue Bowden & Paul Mosley, 2012. "Politics, Public Expenditure and the Evolution of Poverty in Africa 1920-2009," Working Papers 2012003, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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