| Title | The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists |
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| Page | 1621 |
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| Chapter | -- |
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| Text |
sevenpence a week - that is, when there was work to do every day, which was not always. Sometimes they had to stand idle three days out of six. The wages of those who got sixpence halfpenny came out at one pound and twopence - when they worked every day - and as for those who - like Sawkins - received only fivepence, their week's wages amounted to fifteen and sixpence. When they were only employed for two or three days or perhaps only a few hours, their `Saturday night' sometimes amounted to half a sovereign, seven and sixpence, five shillings or even less. Then most of them said that it was better than nothing at all. Many of them were married men, so, in order to make existence possible, their wives went out charing or worked in laundries. They had children whom they had to bring up |
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