Slum Photograph

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Date:Not Recorded

Description:This is a photograph from the Warwickshire Photographic Survey, taken by the Housing Committee to record slum properties in the city.

Much of Birmingham’s unskilled workforce lived right in the city centre as they could not afford transport to work. They lived in the worst built and cheapest accommodation surrounded by factories railways and canals. The back to back houses, like the ones in this photograph were where illness and death rates were highest. Families shared toilets, one cold water tap, rubbish area and wash house. Although the building of back to backs was banned in 1876, there were nearly 44,000 in Birmingham as late as 1914.

Questions to think about: What does the photo tell us about what life was like for poor children in Birmingham?
What could be good/bad about growing up here? Why do you think people wanted to move children away from living conditions like these?