2. Poor Children
There was no money for toys, nowhere to play
except alleys and yards.
Many poor children lived in tiny country cottages or
city slums.
If they had any toys they would be ragdolls or cheap
penny toys.
Children had to work for little or no money.
Most family's couldn’t afford to take their kids to
school.
3. Rich Children
In victorian times you were either a rich child or a
poor child.
Their toys would be toy soldiers or maybe a train set.
They would go away to a good boarding school or
would be tutored by a governor at home.
4. The child workhouse
The workhouse was a place where orphans and
disabled children went.
They would get food and a bed in return for work like
picking oakum.
The children who were born in the workhouse often
stayed in the workhouse.
You had to get up at 7am and work till 4pm and bed
by 8pm every day.
The punishment for not obeying the rules was
nothing but bread and water for 2 days.
5. Victorian schools
Only richer families could afford to pay the school
fees, though some schools gave free places to poor
boys.
Poor girls did not go to school when the Victorian
age began meaning they had little education.
Sometimes, wealthy girls may have attended
boarding schools.
Ragged Schools were schools for poor children. One
of the first was started in Portsmouth.
6. Chimney sweeps
The children were frequently underfed so that they would
remain small enough for the work.
The work was extremely dangerous, severe burns, falls
and lung disease killed many of the children.
Children were not necessary, the job could be done,
more safely, just a well, by using brushes.
Children as young as 3 were used for the job. - They
"outgrew" the job around 9 or 10.
7. New laws for schools
Reformers campaigned for new laws to improve
working conditions for children and give children the
opportunity for schooling.
In 1870 Parliament said there had to be a school in
every town and village.
In the 1860s a farmer might pay 6 pence (6d) a week
for each child.
By 1880, the law said that all children aged 5 to 10
must go to primary school, so every child would
receive at least a basic education.
8. Comparison!
Rich children Poor children
they would always go to the If they did not work
top schools whatever the properly , they would not
price. eat dinner!
They would get everything
There was no fun it was
all work
they wanted.
They would be lucky if
They were fed proper they would live to 40
nutritious food. Their houses were literally
And they would get big shaks!
houses and lots of helpers.
Verdict: rich children win!
