2. The poor were expected to work hard but most lived in poverty.The business owning class believed in economy and hard work but it was also a time of child labour and increasing squalor. In the cities, sanitation in the poorest houses was terrible. Many families lived crowded together as more and more people packed into the slums of the ever growing cities. The workers' houses were built quickly and cheaply. A typical house had a kitchen, a parlour, two bedrooms and an attic bedroom. Many houses were built back-to-back in terraces. Several families shared limited outdoor toilets and water pumps. The houses were built near to the factories, so that people could walk to work. Big families of up to 8 or 10 children were often crowded together in 2 or 3 rooms. Until the Factory Acts of the 1840’s, there were no laws protecting adults or children at work.
