Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree.

  • Seebohm Rowntree
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    392/472 (page 356)
    The total number of members on the books of the Friendly Societies in York, taking both registered and non-registered societies into account, follows:— Males . 9,47 5 Females . 624 Juveniles (under 18). 563 Total . 10,662 In addition to the above, about 1700 men pay for sick and funeral benefits through their Trade Unions (see Appendix I.). If these are included, the total membership of Friendly Societies in York is 12,362. Women and children do not, as a rule, belong to more than one Friendly Society, but many men are members of more than one, and hence the number of different persons represented by the total adult male membership of 11,175 is considerably less than that figure. It has not been possible to ascertain exactly how many different persons this adult male membership of 11,175 represents, but an inquiry limited to 400 men gave the following results. (It should be noted that the inquiry was not confined to any one section of the working classes, but embraced men belonging to all sections, from low-paid labourers to highly-paid mechanics.1) 1 It may be remarked here that the very poor are but seldom members of Friendly Societies. Even if they can be induced to join, they soon allow their membership to lapse.