Edwardian Working Class,Edwardian Era Working Class

The Edwardian era is often associated with prosperity and the elite. The high class centric history often makes us forget a very essential element of this era, that of the Edwardian working class. The existence of this class is often overlapped by the high life of the Edwardian elites. However, there very much existed a working class society in the Edwardian era, something which many of us are not quite aware of.

The period between 1900 and 1910 which is also referred to as the Edwardian era saw the reign of an open minded monarch Edward VII who brought about many significant effects in the Edwardian era. The first decade of the 20th century saw England divided by strict lines of upper, middle and working classes.

Much has been said about the developments of the upper and middle class society in this decade however the same does not apply to the working class people belonging to this generation. The grinding poverty of the working class met with negligible development during this era. Their situation as it appears worsened with the hour.

Income of the working class people could hardly manage them a square meal. The Colemans who were associated with the upper middle class made a whopping 750-1500 annually whereas the annual pay for a working class cook was around 30. A maids income was even worse with a mere 16-22 annually. Thus there was the huge difference in the financial standing of Edwardian working class and the middle class people in this decade.

The upper middle class professionals included a merchant, solicitor, banker, surgeon, physician or manufacturer where as the lower middle class people included shop keepers, office workers, travelling salesmen, teachers and factory foremen. These people were the ones that developed the maximum in this decade.

On one hand the upper middle class adopted the Edwardian fashion wholeheartedly, on the other the lower middle class clung to the Victorian fashion. Speaking of the working class people you might be reminded of the saying beggars cant be choosers. The working class were so busy in the daily battle of arranging a square meal that Victorian or Edwardian, no fashion, no lifestyle meant anything to them.

The upper classes and the elites paid little or no attention towards the uplift of this needy working class. It was only with the advent of the industrial revolution that the situation of this ignored class started showing a bit of improvement.