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Male Wages, Household Budgets and Living Standards of Barcelona’s Working Class (1856-1917)

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.33231/j.ihe.2023.05.007

2340-3373

Cristina Borderías, Xavier Cussó i Segura,

Historical and socio-economic studies of Spain and related regions

The debate on the effects of industrialization on the living standards of the working classes has very recently been reignited using the household budget methodology. From this perspective, the aim of this article is precisely to ascertain the capacity of the wages of adult male workers in the city of Barcelona to cover household expenditure in the period 1856-1917. Based on Ildefons Cerdà’s Monografía estadística de la clase obrera de Barcelona en 1856 (Statistical monograph of Barcelona’s Working Classes in 1856, 1867), as well as on household budgets (1860-1917-1919), the series of wages and consumer prices published by the Oficina Estadística Municipal (Municipal Statistical Office) in the Anuario Estadístico de la ciudad de Barcelona (Statistical Yearbook ofthe city of Barcelona, 1902-1929), and other local sources, this article offers new evidence showing that, despite improvements, at the end of the period considered, the salary of male workers had not yet reached a level that could be considered a family wage.