Health

Health issues during this time period provided another major reason for the population of England, especially amongst the lower classes, to consume liquor. With sanitation systems in the town being so crude, safe drinking water and milk was very hard to come by. Hence, beer was considered to be the safest beverage to drink and was commonly regarded as a source of health and strength. These notions held true especially for the poor since they were affected by the poor sanitation conditions the most. In general, drinking played an enormously important part in the lives of the poor. Francis Place, a noted author of the time, says it best when he states, "…for the urban poor sex and drinking are the only pleasures in life and of the two drunkenness is by far the most desired" (45).

The drink also represented an escape from a harsh and often boring work environment, but it also asserted that there was more to life than just work. The jobs that were available at the time often consisted of a combination of hard labor and long hours, which lead to exhaustion of both mind and body. With no other means of excitement or amusement during the week, drinking was a major attraction because it served as the sole means of escape from one's dreary existence. Hence, spending one's paychecks at the local pub or tavern was a very common way to unwind. In fact, wages were often paid out in the pubs themselves. A great deal of these meager wages were spent on drinking as there is evidence that shows working class families purchasing liquor and beer at the expense of foodstuffs. At the time there were estimations that a working class family would send at least a quarter of their paychecks on the drink, and recent studies have shown that many families would have spent one half to one third of their weekly stipends on drinking (46).

<Back>