Living and Working Conditions in Australia around the turn of the Twentieth Century
Introduction
The working conditions in Australia used to be really hard to work in. All workers got paid very little, their health was poor, they didn't have much relaxing time and compared today’s life, it was really hard to live in.
Types of jobs
In Australia up until the 1900’s, there were many jobs,
some of these include:
The working conditions in Australia used to be really hard to work in. All workers got paid very little, their health was poor, they didn't have much relaxing time and compared today’s life, it was really hard to live in.
Types of jobs
In Australia up until the 1900’s, there were many jobs,
some of these include:
- Miners
- Traders
- Farmers
- Policemen
- Teachers
- Defense force
- Doctors
Pay
The people that lived around the time of 1900, got paid very little. The men who worked ended up getting paid approximately 11 cents per hour. Woman who worked got paid approximately half as much as the men. Compared to today’s life where we get paid about $1000 a week. It was very hard to live, buy, save and cope in those conditions.
Working Conditions
The working conditions in Australia were very hard. The men were responsible for looking after the family. The woman and children in poor families had to work as well the men because a single income from the men was not enough for the family to live on. If the children were expected to work, they had to start working from the age of 8. All the people that worked had to work long hours due to not being paid much for working.
The people that lived around the time of 1900, got paid very little. The men who worked ended up getting paid approximately 11 cents per hour. Woman who worked got paid approximately half as much as the men. Compared to today’s life where we get paid about $1000 a week. It was very hard to live, buy, save and cope in those conditions.
Working Conditions
The working conditions in Australia were very hard. The men were responsible for looking after the family. The woman and children in poor families had to work as well the men because a single income from the men was not enough for the family to live on. If the children were expected to work, they had to start working from the age of 8. All the people that worked had to work long hours due to not being paid much for working.
What did they live in?
By 1869 Australia was divided into six colonies, each had a name: New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland each of these had their own governors, parliaments and systems of government and each were settled by British people. Eventually each colony sent representatives to special meetings to try work out a way to make a new federation. It was soon passed as a British Act of Parliament in 1900 after having votes with the people from all the colonies it was called the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of which came into effect on 1 January 1901. What did they wear? Nowadays we dress a lot differently to what they did back in the nineteen hundreds. In the nineteen hundreds people used to cover up a lot more than we do today. Girls and women never wore trousers and women kept their legs hidden with long dresses or skirts. Boys and men always kept their coats, jackets and ties on no matter if the weather was really hot. People from every social class usually wore hats when they were outside What was their entertainment? For entertainment in the nineteen hundreds people went to music halls, pleasure gardens, movie houses and theaters showing silent films. For the rich people there were horse races and sporting event for them to go watch. At home board games were very popular and families often listened to the radio. Every now and then there were special events such as exhibitions and fun fairs. What did they eat and cook with? In the 1900s every food they ate had to be freshly prepared and fresh because there were no fridges. When they cooked it all had to be done on a coal fired cooking range. On a Sunday there was always a roast meal. It wasn't unusual on a Sunday evening to have cold meat and left over vegetables for supper and was usually trailed by cold fruit pie. However not every family had enough money to eat like ordinary families did. There were some families that were desperate for money and lived in slum situations, for them meals were very different. Most of the time the children and the mothers had to last on sweetened tea with no milk and hunks of bread spread with margarine. The father had his relish which was something extra to go with and egg or a slice of bacon or even a small slice of cheese or fish. It was important to keep the father fed well so he had enough energy to work to get money for the family each week. |
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