Editing Edwardian era (section)

==Social change and improved health==
===Public health===
{{Further|History of public health in the United Kingdom}}
By the late-1880s, the [[Industrial Revolution]] had created new technologies that changed the way people lived. The growth of industry shifts in manufacturing factories, special-purpose machinery and technological innovations, which led to increased productivity. [[Gender roles]] shifted as women made use of the new technology to upgrade their lifestyle and their career opportunities.

Mortality declined steadily in urban England and Wales 1870–1917. Robert Millward and Frances N. Bell looked statistically at those factors in the physical environment (especially population density and overcrowding) that raised death rates directly, as well as indirect factors such as price and income movements that affected expenditures on sewers, water supplies, food, and medical staff. The statistical data show that increases in the incomes of households and increases in town tax revenues helped cause the decline of mortality.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |jstor = 41377834|title = Economic factors in the decline of mortality in late nineteenth century Britain|journal = European Review of Economic History|volume = 2|issue = 3|pages = 263–288|last1 = Millward|first1 = Robert|last2 = Bell|first2 = Frances N.|year = 1998|doi = 10.1017/S1361491698000124}}</ref>

The new money permitted higher spending on food, and also on a wide range of health-enhancing goods and services such as medical care. The major improvement in the physical environment was the quality of the housing stock, which rose faster than the population; its quality was increasingly regulated by central and local government.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Infant mortality]] fell faster in England and Wales than in Scotland. Clive Lee argues that one factor was the continued overcrowding in Scotland's housing.<ref>Clive H. Lee, "Regional inequalities in infant mortality in Britain, 1861–1971: patterns and hypotheses." ''Population Studies'' 45.1 (1991): 55–65.</ref> During the First World War, infant mortality fell sharply across the country. J.&nbsp;M. Winter attributes this to the full employment and higher wages paid to war workers.<ref>J.&nbsp;M. Winter, "Aspects of the impact of the First World War on infant mortality in Britain." ''Journal of European Economic History'' 11.3 (1982): 713.</ref>

===Rising status of women===
[[File:The smoking room of a ladies' club.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Oilette postcard with art by Phil May, published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, {{Circa|1910s}}]]For housewives, sewing machines enabled the production of ready-made clothing and made it easier for women to sew their own clothes; more generally, argues Barbara Burman, "home dressmaking was sustained as an important aid for women negotiating wider social shifts and tensions in their lives."<ref>Barbara Burman, "Made at Home by Clever Fingers: Home Dressmaking in Edwardian England," in Barbara Burman, ed. ''The Culture of Sewing: Gender, Consumption, and Home Dressmaking'' (1999) p 34</ref> Increased literacy in the middle class gave women wider access to information and ideas. Numerous new magazines appealed to their tastes and helped define femininity.<ref>Margaret Beetham, ''A magazine of her own?: domesticity and desire in the woman's magazine, 1800–1914'' (Routledge, 2003).</ref>

The inventions of the typewriter, telephone, and new filing systems offered middle-class women increased employment opportunities.<ref>Guerriero R. Wilson, "Women's work in offices and the preservation of men's 'breadwinning' jobs' in early twentieth-century Glasgow." ''Women's History Review'' 10#3 (2001): 463–482.</ref><ref>Gregory Anderson, ''The white-blouse revolution: female office workers since 1870'' (1988).</ref> So too did the rapid expansion of the school system,<ref>Carol Dyhouse, ''Girls growing up in late-Victorian and Edwardian England'' (Routledge, 2012).</ref> and the emergence of the new profession of nursing. Education and status led to demands for female roles in the rapidly expanding world of sports.<ref>Cartriona M. Parratt, "Athletic 'Womanhood': Exploring sources for female sport in Victorian and Edwardian England." ''Journal of Sport History'' 16#2 (1989): 140–157.</ref>

Women were very active in church affairs, including attendance at services, Sunday school teaching, fund raising, pastoral care, social work and support for international missionary activities. They were almost completely excluded from practically all leadership roles.<ref>Roger Ottewill, "'Skilful and Industrious': Women and Congregationalism in Edwardian Hampshire 1901–1914." ''Family & Community History'' 19#1 (2016): 50–62.</ref>

====Women's suffrage====
{{Further|Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom}}
As middle-class women rose in status, they increasingly supported demands for a political voice.<ref>Martin Pugh, ''Women's suffrage in Britain, 1867–1928'' (1980).</ref><ref>[[June Purvis]], "Gendering the Historiography of the Suffragette Movement in Edwardian Britain: some reflections." ''[[Women's History Review]]'' 22#4 (2013): 576–590.</ref> There was significant support for woman suffrage in all the parties, but the Liberal Party was in control after 1906 and a handful of its leaders, especially [[H. H. Asquith]], blocked it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin Roberts| title=Britain, 1846–1964: The Challenge of Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gwc0Rlq8al4C&pg=RA1-PT80|year=2001|publisher=Oxford UP|page=8|isbn=9780199133734}}</ref>

There were numerous organisations which did their work quietly. After 1897, they were increasingly linked together by the [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies]] (NUWSS) led by [[Millicent Fawcett]]. However, front page publicity was seized by the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] (WSPU). Founded in 1903, it was tightly controlled by the three Pankhursts, [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] (1858–1928), and her daughters [[Christabel Pankhurst]] (1880–1958) and [[Sylvia Pankhurst]] (1882–1960).<ref>Jane Marcus, ''Suffrage and the Pankhursts'' (2013).</ref>

It specialised in highly visible publicity campaigns such as large parades. This had the effect of energising all dimensions of the suffrage movement. While there was a majority of support for suffrage in Parliament, the ruling Liberal Party refused to allow a vote on the issue; the result of which was an escalation in the suffragette campaign. The WSPU, in dramatic contrast to its allies, embarked on a campaign of violence to publicise the issue, even to the detriment of its own aims.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/suffrage/|title=The Struggle for Suffrage {{!}} Historic England| last=England| first=Historic| website=historicengland.org.uk|access-date=2017-10-03}}</ref><ref>Melanie Phillips, ''The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement and the Ideas behind it'' (Abacus, 2004).</ref>

====Birth control====
Although abortion was illegal, it was nevertheless a widespread form of birth control.<ref name="knight">{{cite journal|last=Knight|first=Patricia|title=Women and Abortion in Victorian and Edwardian England|journal=History Workshop|year=1977|volume=4|pages=57–68| doi=10.1093/hwj/4.1.57| pmid=11610301}}</ref> Used predominantly by working-class women, the procedure was used not only as a means of terminating pregnancy, but also to prevent poverty and unemployment. Those who transported [[contraceptive]]s could be legally punished. Contraceptives became more expensive over time and had a high failure rate. Unlike contraceptives, abortion did not need any prior planning and was less expensive. Newspaper advertisements were used to promote and sell [[abortifacient]]s indirectly.<ref name="mclaren">{{cite journal|last=McLaren |first=Angus| title=Abortion in England 1890–1914|journal=Victorian Studies|year=1977|pages=379–400}}</ref>

Not all of society was accepting of contraceptives or abortion, and opponents viewed both as part of one and the same sin. Abortion was much more common among the middle classes than among those living in rural areas, where the procedure was not readily available. Women were often tricked into purchasing ineffective pills. In addition to fearing legal reprimands, many physicians did not condone abortion because they viewed it as an immoral procedure potentially endangering a woman's life.<ref name="mclaren" /> Because abortion was illegal and physicians refused to perform the procedure, local women provided abortions, often using crochet hooks or similar instruments.<ref name="knight" />

Feminists of the era focused on educating and finding jobs for women, leaving aside the controversial issues of contraceptives and abortion, which in popular opinion were often related to promiscuity and prostitution. The Church condemned abortion as immoral and a form of rebellion against the child-bearing role women were expected to assume. Many considered abortion to be a selfish act that allowed a woman to avoid personal responsibility, contributing to a decline in moral values.<ref name="knight" /> Abortion was often a solution for women who already had children and did not want more. Consequently, the size of families decreased drastically.<ref name="mclaren" />

====Poverty among working-class women====
[[File:BCLM-Mary Macarthur 7b.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Mary Macarthur]] addressing the crowds during the chain makers' strike, [[Cradley Heath]], 1910]]
The [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]] defined who could receive monetary relief. The Act reflected and perpetuated prevailing gender conditions. In Edwardian society, men were the source of wealth. The law restricted relief for unemployed, able-bodied male workers, due to the prevailing view that they would find work in the absence of financial assistance. However, women were treated differently. After the Poor Law was passed, women and children received most of the aid.<ref name=thane/>

The law did not recognise single independent women, and put women and children into the same category. If a man was physically disabled, his wife was also treated as disabled under the [[coverture]] laws, even though coverture was fast becoming outmoded in the Edwardian era. Unmarried mothers were sent to the workhouse, receiving unfair social treatment such as being restricted from attending church on Sundays.<ref name=thane/>

During marriage disputes, women often lost the rights to their children, even if their husbands were abusive.<ref name=thane>{{cite journal|last=Thane|first=Pat|author-link = Pat Thane| title=Women and the Poor Law in Victorian and Edwardian England|journal=History Workshop| volume=6| issue=6|year=1978 |pages=29–51|doi=10.1093/hwj/6.1.29| jstor=4288190}}</ref> However, women were increasingly granted custody of their children under seven years of age; this tendency was colloquially known as the "tender years doctrine", in which it was believed that a child was best left under maternal care until the age of seven.<ref>{{cite book| author=Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young|title=Legalizing Misandry:From Public Shame To Systemic Discrimination Against Men| year=2006|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|page=126| isbn=9780773528628}}</ref>

At the time, single mothers were the poorest sector in society, disadvantaged for at least four reasons. First, women lived longer, often leaving them widowed with children. Second, women had fewer opportunities to work, and when they did find it, their wages were lower than male workers' wages. Third, women were often less likely to marry or remarry after being widowed, leaving them as the main providers for the remaining family members. Finally, poor women had deficient diets, because their husbands and children received disproportionately large shares of food. Many women were malnourished and had limited access to health care.<ref name=thane/>

====Female servants====
Edwardian Britain had large numbers of male and female [[domestic servant]]s, in both urban and rural areas.<ref name=benson>{{cite journal|last=Benson|first=John|s2cid=145703473|title=One Man and His Woman: Domestic Service in Edwardian England|journal=Labour History Review|year=2007| volume=72| issue=3|pages=203–214|doi=10.1179/174581607X264793}}</ref> Middle- and upper-class women relied on servants to run their homes smoothly. Servants were provided with food, clothing, housing, and a small wage, and lived in a self-enclosed social system within their employer's house.<ref name=davidoff>{{cite journal|last=Davidoff|first=Lenore|title=Mastered for Life: Servant and Wife in Victorian and Edwardian England|journal=Society for the Study of Labour History|year=1973| volume=73| issue=27|pages=23–24}}</ref> However, the number of domestic servants fell in the Edwardian era due to fewer young people willing to be employed in this capacity.<ref name=pooley>{{cite journal|last=Pooley|first=Sian|title=Domestic Servants and Their Urban Employers: A Case Study of Lancaster 1880–1914|journal=The Economic History Review|year=2008| volume=62|issue=2| pages=405–429| doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2008.00459.x|s2cid=153704509}}</ref>

===Fashion===
{{Further|1900s in fashion}}
[[File:Women dress-1901-1911-Punch.jpg|thumb|300px|A cartoon in ''Punch'' (1911) compares changes in fashion between 1901 and 1911. "The dowdy voluminous clothes of the earlier date, making the grandmother an old lady and the mother seem plain, had been replaced by much simpler looser wear producing a sense of release for all three females."<ref>Donald Read, ''Edwardian England 1901–15: society and politics'' (1972) pp 257–58.</ref>]]
The upper classes embraced leisure sports, which resulted in rapid developments in fashion, as more mobile and flexible clothing styles were needed.<ref>Marilyn Constanzo, "'One Can't Shake Off the Women': Images of Sport and Gender in Punch, 1901–10." ''The International journal of the history of sport'' 19#1 (2002): 31–56.</ref><ref>Sarah Cosbey, Mary Lynn Damhorst, and Jane Farrell-Beck. "Diversity of daytime clothing styles as a reflection of women's social role ambivalence from 1873 through 1912." ''Clothing and Textiles Research Journal'' 21#3 (2003): 101–119.</ref> During the Edwardian era, women wore a very tight [[corset]], or [[bodice]], and dressed in long skirts. The Edwardian era was the last time women wore corsets in everyday life.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} According to [[Arthur Marwick]], the most striking change of all the developments that occurred during the Great War was the modification in women's dress, "for, however far politicians were to put the clocks back in other steeples in the years after the war, no one ever put the lost inches back on the hems of women's skirts".<ref>{{cite book |first=Arthur |last=Marwick |title=The Deluge. British Society and the First World War |edition= Second |location=Basingstoke |publisher=Macmillan |year=1991 |page=151 |isbn=978-0-333-54846-2 }}</ref>

Fabrics were usually sweet pea shades in [[chiffon (fabric)|chiffon]], mousse line de sore, tulle with feather boas and [[lace]]. 'High and boned collars for the day; plunging off shoulder décolleté for the evening'.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion : a visual history from regency & romance to retro & revolution : a complete illustrated chronology of fashion from the 1800s to the present day|last=J.|first=Stevenson, N.|date=2012|orig-year=2011|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=9780312624453|edition= 1st U.S. |location=New York|oclc=740627215}}</ref> The tea gown's cut was relatively loose compared to the more formal evening gown, and was worn without a corset. The silhouette was flowing, and was usually decorated with lace or with the cheaper Irish crochet.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Costume and fashion : a concise history|author=Laver, James|date=2002|publisher=Thames & Hudson|others=De La Haye, Amy., Tucker, Andrew (Fashion journalist)|isbn=978-0500203484|edition= 4th|location=New York|oclc=50081013}}</ref>

[[evening glove|Long kid gloves]], trimmed hats, and parasols were often used as accessories. [[Parasol]]s are different from umbrellas; they are used for protection from the sun, rather from the rain, though they were often used as ornamentation rather than for function. By the end of the Edwardian era, the hat grew bigger in size, a trend that would continue in the 1910s.

The Edwardians developed new styles in clothing design.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from "La Mode Illustrée"|last=Olian|first=JoAnne|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1998|isbn=9780486297118|location=New York}}</ref> The Edwardian Era saw a decrease in the trend for voluminous, heavy skirts:<ref>Ann Beth Presley, "Fifty years of change: Societal attitudes and women's fashions, 1900–1950." ''Historian'' 60#2 (1998): 307–324.</ref>
* The two-piece dress came into vogue. At the start of the decade, skirts were trumpet-shaped.
* Skirts in 1901 often had decorated hems with ruffles of fabric and lace.
* Some dresses and skirts featured trains.
* Tailored jackets, first introduced in 1880, increased in popularity; and by 1900, tailored suits known as tailormades became popular.<ref>Kristina Harris, ''Victorian & Edwardian Fashions for Women, 1840 to 1919'' (Schiffer Publishing, 1995).</ref>
* In 1905, skirts fell in soft folds that curved in, then flared out near the hemlines.
* From 1905 to 1907, waistlines rose.
* In 1911, the [[hobble skirt]] was introduced: a tight fitting skirt that restricted a woman's stride.
* [[Lingerie dress]]es, or tea gowns made of soft fabrics, festooned with ruffles and lace were worn indoors.<ref>Sarah Edwards, "'Clad in Robes of Virgin White': The Sexual Politics of the 'Lingerie'Dress in Novel and Film Versions of The Go-Between." ''Adaptation'' 5#1 (2012): 18–34.</ref>
* Around 1913 women's dresses acquired a lower and sometimes V-shaped neckline in contrast to the high collars a generation before. This was considered scandalous by some, and caused outrage among clergy throughout Europe.<ref name="Gernsheim1963">{{cite book|author=Alison Gernsheim|title=Victorian & Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Si-yrdMImAC&pg=PA94|year=1963|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-24205-7|page=94}}</ref>

===Newspapers===
The turn of the century saw the rise of popular journalism aimed at the lower middle class and tending to deemphasise highly detailed political and international news, which remain the focus of a handful of low-circulation prestige newspapers. These were family-owned and operated, and were primarily interested not in profits but in influence on the nation's elite by their control of the news and editorials on serious topics.<ref name="R.C.K. Ensor, England 1936 pp 309-16">R.C.K. Ensor, England, 1870–1914 (1936) pp 309–16.</ref>

The new press, on the other hand, reached vastly larger audiences by emphasis on sports, crime, [[sensationalism]], and gossip about famous personalities. Detailed accounts of major speeches and complex international events were not printed. [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe]] was the chief innovator.<ref name="R.C.K. Ensor, England 1936 pp 309-16"/> He used his ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' to transform the media along the American model of "[[Yellow Journalism]]". [[Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook|Lord Beaverbrook]] said he was "the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street".<ref>Lord Beaverbrook, ''Politicians and the War, 1914–1916'' (1928) 1:93.</ref> Harmsworth made a great deal of money, but during the [[First World War]] he also wanted political power. For that he purchased the highest prestige newspaper, ''[[The Times]]''.<ref>J. Lee Thompson, "Fleet Street Colossus: The Rise and Fall of Northcliffe, 1896–1922." ''Parliamentary History'' 25.1 (2006): 115–138.</ref> [[P. P. Catterall]] and [[Colin Seymour-Ure]] conclude that: 
{{Blockquote|More than anyone [he] ... shaped the modern press. Developments he introduced or harnessed remain central: broad contents, exploitation of advertising revenue to subsidize prices, aggressive marketing, subordinate regional markets, independence from party control.<ref>P. P. Catterall and Colin Seymour-Ure, "Northcliffe, Viscount." in John Ramsden, ed. ''The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century British Politics'' (2002) p. 475.</ref>}}