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...... From 1890 to 1914, Britain may have gone through a similar situation. Although later allied with France for military purposes, Britain may have not had any trade agreement. This implies that Britain was a self sustaining unit but using resources of her colonies. Even at that time Britain had nearly of land area which commercially benefitted her directly and indirectly5. New industries were taken over by Germany and USA (electronics). In the mean time, traditional industries such as the steel industry were fallen back and had been newly taken over by Germans and Americans5. This in turn might have generated a population of unoccupied personal searching for opportunities. In 1904 regular work was not sufficient to protect families against poverty and confirms Rowntrees conclusion that low wages were an important cause of poverty in the period. We find household poverty rates of over 60 percent for households with unskilled heads and more than three children. 6


References
1History Man Website2001, Britain, viewed 18 September, 2009, <.historyman.co.uk/ww1/Europe1890-1914.html >

2 History Man Website2001, Britain, viewed 18 September, 2009, <.historyman.co.uk/ww1/Europe1890-1914.html >

3 Gazeley, I & Newell, A 2007, POVERTY IN BRITAIN IN 1904: AN EARLY SOCIAL SURVEY
REDISCOVERED, PRUS Working Paper

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