That brief outline takes us to the beginning of thetwentieth century,and noww we'll turn to housing.
At the beginning of the century,living conditions forthe majority of working people in East London werevery basic indeed.Houses were crowded closelytogerther and usually very badly built,because therewas no regulation.But the poor and needy wereattracted by the possibility of work,and they had tobe housed.It was the availability,rather than thecondition,of the housing that was the major concernfor tenants and landlords alike.
Few houses had electricity at this time,so other sources of power were used,like coal for thefires which heated nerhaps just one room.Or course,the smoke from these contributed a greatdeal to the air polltion for which London used to be famous.
A tiny,damp,unhealthy house like this might well bbe occupied by two full families,possiblyincluding several children,grandparents,aunts and uncles.
Now,before I go on to health implications of this way of life,I'll say something about food andnutrition.