Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH
, often known simply as Seebohm Rowntree (7 July 1871–7 October 1954) was a British
sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist.
on 7 July 1871 the third child of Quaker chocolate
manufacturer Joseph Rowntree
and Emma Seebohm. He was educated at the York Quaker Boarding School
and Owens College, Manchester, where he studied for five terms focusing on chemistry
. When he returned to York he started working in his father's chocolate factory
where he used his knowledge of chemistry to carry out research and laboratory testing for the firm. On Sundays he started teaching at the York Adult School which he continued doing for twenty years. His interaction with members of the working class
at the Adult school combined with a visit to Newcastle
in 1895, in which he was shown the living conditions of the poor
first hand, made him determined to look into the problem of poverty
. In 1897 he married Lydia Potter of Middlesbrough and together they were to have five children. In the same year he was appointed as a director
of his father's successful business which allowed him time to embark on his first investigation of poverty in York. During the First World War he was the director of the welfare department of the Ministry of Munitions and in 1917 became a member of the reconstruction committee which later became the Ministry of Reconstruction. He became chairman of Rowntrees in 1923 a post he held until 1941. Rowntree died on 7 October 1954.
in York
, inspired by the work of his father Joseph Rowntree
and the work of Charles Booth
in London. He carried out a comprehensive survey into the living conditions of the poor in York during which investigators visited every working class
home. This amounted to the detailed study of 11,560 families or 46,754 individuals. The results of this study were published in 1901 in his book Poverty, A Study of Town Life
.
In Rowntree's work, he surveyed poor families in York and drew a poverty line in terms of a minimum weekly sum of money "necessary to enable families... to secure the necessaries of a healthy life" (quoted in Coates and Silburn, 1970). The money needed for this subsistence level of existence covered fuel and light, rent, food, clothing, and household and personal items, adjusted according to family size. He determined this level using scientific methods which hadn’t been applied to the study of poverty before. For example he consulted leading nutritionist
s of the period to discover the minimum calorific intake and nutritional balance necessary before people got ill or lost weight. He then surveyed the prices of food in York to discover what the cheapest prices in the area for the food needed for this minimum diet
were and used this information to set his poverty line.
According to this measure, 27.84 percent of the total population of York lived below the poverty line. This result corresponded with that from Charles Booth’s study of poverty in London and so challenged the view, commonly held at the time, that abject poverty was a problem particular to London and was not widespread in the rest of Britain
.
He placed those below his poverty line into two groups depending on the reason for their poverty. Those in primary poverty
did not have enough income to meet the expenditure necessary for their basic needs. Those classed as in secondary poverty
had high enough income to meet basic needs but this money was being spent elsewhere so they were unable to then afford the necessities of life.
In analyzing the results of the investigation he found that people at certain stages of life, for example in old age and early childhood, were more likely to be in abject poverty, living below the poverty line, than at other stages of life. From this he formulated the idea of the poverty cycle in which some people moved in and out of absolute poverty during their lives.
Rowntree's argument that poverty was the result of low wages went against the traditionally held view that the poor were responsible for their own plight.
was low wages, 52%, whereas in the 1930s unemployment accounted for 44.53% and low wages only 10%.
Despite the inclusion of the extra items, he found that the percentage of his sample population in poverty had dropped to 18 per cent in 1936 and 1.5 per cent in 1950. Rowntree helped many, as the poverty became lower, and more people became wealthy, due to jobs.
technique was used rather than a comprehensive survey.
By the 1950s, it appeared that absolute poverty was a minor problem although pockets did remain, for example among the elderly, but it was believed that increased welfare benefits would soon eradicate this lingering poverty. The conquest of poverty was put down to an expanding economy as the 1950s were the years of the 'affluent society', to government policies of full employment
, and to the success of the welfare state
. It was widely believed that the operation of the welfare state had redistributed wealth from rich to poor and significantly raised working class living standards.
urged Rowntree to write on rural living conditions in Britain: The Land (1913) and How the Labourer Lives (1913) looked at the living conditions of farming families. Rowntree argued that an increase in landholdings would make agriculture
more productive.
His work The Human Needs of Labour argued for family allowances and a national minimum wage
, and in The Human Factor in Business, Rowntree argued that business owners should adopt more democratic practices like those at his own factory rather than more autocratic leadership styles.
is a case in point. With the help of experts, Rowntree drew up a diet sheet that would provide the minimum adequate money required for food. It was very unlikely, however, that this minimum budget would meet the needs of the poor. As Martin Rein argues, it was based on an unrealistic assumption of no waste and extensive knowledge in marketing and cooking. An economical budget must be based on knowledge and skill, which is least likely to be present in low-income groups. (Rein, 1970)[Citation Needed]
Rowntree’s estimates further ignored the fact that most of their income was for food that his budget disallowed. Nor did he allow for the fact that choice of food is based on the conventions of a person’s social class and region, not upon a diet sheet drawn up by experts. Thus Peter Townsend argues that in relation to the budgets and customs of life of ordinary people, the make-up of the subsistence budget was unbalanced. Although to add to the debate Townsend's argument is fraught with difficulties as his definition of poverty is problematic. McLachlan(1983)[Citation Needed] suggests that Townsend's argument rests on promoting his definition of poverty; Mclachlan suggests that if poverty is present in the concept of X in as far as poverty represents the term X, that only means that the term poverty means X. So there is a distinction between defining the term X and identifying actual X's as X's. For instance, an alcoholic may be defined as some one who has an acute psychological and/or physiological dependence upon alcohol, but one could point to other non-defining features of alcoholics such as a red nose, rosy cheeks , cirrhosis of the liver. His arguments focus on the definition of terms or on reasons behind certain terms in particular. Thus not all the poverty described and identified as poverty is in fact poverty, it is something else.
Townsend's work accepts a multiplicity of ways in defining poverty, whether people are described as 'broke', or 'destitute' or 'underprivileged' - all such descriptions count as poverty. But poverty cannot be treated this way, otherwise all definitions of oppression or lack of resources or inadequacy might become classified as poverty, even though one can be oppressed but not in poverty, one can be broke or bankrupt or be suffering deprivation, but still not be living in poverty. The fact is that such situations may exist side by side with poverty but they are not factors that preclude or cause poverty. Therefore Townsend regards poverty not as a state that can be described by a multiplicity of words or linguistic descriptions but rather as a type of existence.
and hoped that his work would influence Liberal politicians. Rowntree became close friends with David Lloyd George
in 1907 after the two men met when Lloyd George was serving as President of the Board of Trade. The influence of Rowntree can be seen in the Liberal reforms
passed by the Liberals when in power.
describes him as "the British management movement's greatest pioneer" in his book Golden Book of Management. His religion impacted on his business practices and he believed that the existence of companies which paid low wages was bad for the "nation's economy and humanity". With his father, Joseph Rowntree
, a number of employee benefits were implemented including wage increases, an eight hour day and a pension scheme. In 1904 a doctor was employed to offer free advice to all employees and this was followed a short time later by the creation of a dental department with a resident dentist.
Seebohm oversaw the formation of an industrial psychology department in 1922 which pioneered the use of psychological recruitment tests in British industry. Employing psychologist Victor Moorrees who developed a new test, the form board selection test, to ascertain how well prospective employees would be able to fit chocolates into their box. He was also heavily involved in the National Institute of Industrial Psychology serving on its executive committee from its foundation in 1921, as chairman from 1940–47, until his resignation in 1949.
In 1947 when the British Institute of Management
was created he became an Honorary Founder Member and in 1952 the first English person to become an Honorary Fellow of the Institute.
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, often known simply as Seebohm Rowntree (7 July 1871–7 October 1954) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist.
Life
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree was born in YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
on 7 July 1871 the third child of Quaker chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
manufacturer Joseph Rowntree
Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)
Joseph Rowntree was a Quaker philanthropist and businessman from York, England. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform and his time as a chocolatier at family business Rowntree's, one of the most important in Britain...
and Emma Seebohm. He was educated at the York Quaker Boarding School
Bootham School
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school in the city of York in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by the Religious Society of Friends in 1823. It is close to York Minster. The current headmaster is Jonathan Taylor. The school's motto Membra Sumus Corporis Magni means "We...
and Owens College, Manchester, where he studied for five terms focusing on chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. When he returned to York he started working in his father's chocolate factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
where he used his knowledge of chemistry to carry out research and laboratory testing for the firm. On Sundays he started teaching at the York Adult School which he continued doing for twenty years. His interaction with members of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
at the Adult school combined with a visit to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
in 1895, in which he was shown the living conditions of the poor
Poor
Poor is an adjective related to a state of poverty, low quality or pity.People with the surname Poor:* Charles Henry Poor, a US Navy officer* Charles Lane Poor, an astronomer* Edward Erie Poor, a vice president of the National Park Bank...
first hand, made him determined to look into the problem of poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
. In 1897 he married Lydia Potter of Middlesbrough and together they were to have five children. In the same year he was appointed as a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of his father's successful business which allowed him time to embark on his first investigation of poverty in York. During the First World War he was the director of the welfare department of the Ministry of Munitions and in 1917 became a member of the reconstruction committee which later became the Ministry of Reconstruction. He became chairman of Rowntrees in 1923 a post he held until 1941. Rowntree died on 7 October 1954.
First York study (1899)
Rowntree investigated povertyPoverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, inspired by the work of his father Joseph Rowntree
Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)
Joseph Rowntree was a Quaker philanthropist and businessman from York, England. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform and his time as a chocolatier at family business Rowntree's, one of the most important in Britain...
and the work of Charles Booth
Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
in London. He carried out a comprehensive survey into the living conditions of the poor in York during which investigators visited every working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
home. This amounted to the detailed study of 11,560 families or 46,754 individuals. The results of this study were published in 1901 in his book Poverty, A Study of Town Life
Poverty, A Study of Town Life
Poverty, A Study of Town Life is the first book by social investigator Seebohm Rowntree and details his investigation of poverty in York and what this indicated about the nature of poverty at the start of the 20th century....
.
In Rowntree's work, he surveyed poor families in York and drew a poverty line in terms of a minimum weekly sum of money "necessary to enable families... to secure the necessaries of a healthy life" (quoted in Coates and Silburn, 1970). The money needed for this subsistence level of existence covered fuel and light, rent, food, clothing, and household and personal items, adjusted according to family size. He determined this level using scientific methods which hadn’t been applied to the study of poverty before. For example he consulted leading nutritionist
Nutritionist
A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...
s of the period to discover the minimum calorific intake and nutritional balance necessary before people got ill or lost weight. He then surveyed the prices of food in York to discover what the cheapest prices in the area for the food needed for this minimum diet
Diet (nutrition)
In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...
were and used this information to set his poverty line.
According to this measure, 27.84 percent of the total population of York lived below the poverty line. This result corresponded with that from Charles Booth’s study of poverty in London and so challenged the view, commonly held at the time, that abject poverty was a problem particular to London and was not widespread in the rest of Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
.
He placed those below his poverty line into two groups depending on the reason for their poverty. Those in primary poverty
Primary poverty
Primary poverty is a categorization of poverty created by Seebohm Rowntree. Primary poverty is the name given to a group of people who live below Seebohm Rowntree's poverty line. To live in primary poverty is to have insufficient income to afford basic needs. According to his study in York 10% of...
did not have enough income to meet the expenditure necessary for their basic needs. Those classed as in secondary poverty
Secondary poverty
Secondary poverty is a description of poverty created by Seebohm Rowntree after his investigations into poverty in York. Secondary poverty was the term he coined for those living below his poverty line whose income was sufficient for them to live above the line, but was spent on things other than...
had high enough income to meet basic needs but this money was being spent elsewhere so they were unable to then afford the necessities of life.
In analyzing the results of the investigation he found that people at certain stages of life, for example in old age and early childhood, were more likely to be in abject poverty, living below the poverty line, than at other stages of life. From this he formulated the idea of the poverty cycle in which some people moved in and out of absolute poverty during their lives.
Rowntree's argument that poverty was the result of low wages went against the traditionally held view that the poor were responsible for their own plight.
Second York study (1936)
Rowntree conducted a further study of poverty in York in 1936 under the title Poverty and Progress. This was based largely on a similar research method as his earlier study and found absolute poverty among the working class in York had decreased by 50% since his first study. However as he changed his definition of the poverty line, and so the measure of absolute poverty, from his earlier study this is not a direct comparison. In this study he included allowances for some items which were not strictly necessary for survival, these included newspapers, books, radios, beer, tobacco, holidays, and presents. His results showed that the causes of poverty had changed considerably over half a century. In the 1890s, the major reason for primary povertyPrimary poverty
Primary poverty is a categorization of poverty created by Seebohm Rowntree. Primary poverty is the name given to a group of people who live below Seebohm Rowntree's poverty line. To live in primary poverty is to have insufficient income to afford basic needs. According to his study in York 10% of...
was low wages, 52%, whereas in the 1930s unemployment accounted for 44.53% and low wages only 10%.
Despite the inclusion of the extra items, he found that the percentage of his sample population in poverty had dropped to 18 per cent in 1936 and 1.5 per cent in 1950. Rowntree helped many, as the poverty became lower, and more people became wealthy, due to jobs.
Third York study (1951)
Rowntree published a third study of York's poverty in 1951 under the title Poverty and the Welfare State which was produced in collaboration with his research assistant Commander G. R. Lavers. Unlike his other studies of York a samplingSampling (statistics)
In statistics and survey methodology, sampling is concerned with the selection of a subset of individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population....
technique was used rather than a comprehensive survey.
By the 1950s, it appeared that absolute poverty was a minor problem although pockets did remain, for example among the elderly, but it was believed that increased welfare benefits would soon eradicate this lingering poverty. The conquest of poverty was put down to an expanding economy as the 1950s were the years of the 'affluent society', to government policies of full employment
Full employment
In macroeconomics, full employment is a condition of the national economy, where all or nearly all persons willing and able to work at the prevailing wages and working conditions are able to do so....
, and to the success of the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
. It was widely believed that the operation of the welfare state had redistributed wealth from rich to poor and significantly raised working class living standards.
Further writings
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
urged Rowntree to write on rural living conditions in Britain: The Land (1913) and How the Labourer Lives (1913) looked at the living conditions of farming families. Rowntree argued that an increase in landholdings would make agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
more productive.
His work The Human Needs of Labour argued for family allowances and a national minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
, and in The Human Factor in Business, Rowntree argued that business owners should adopt more democratic practices like those at his own factory rather than more autocratic leadership styles.
Criticism of his work
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, researchers became increasingly dubious about the ‘conquest of poverty’. Rowntree’s concept of subsistence poverty, and the indicators he used to measure poverty, was strongly criticized. His measurement of adequate nutritionNutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
is a case in point. With the help of experts, Rowntree drew up a diet sheet that would provide the minimum adequate money required for food. It was very unlikely, however, that this minimum budget would meet the needs of the poor. As Martin Rein argues, it was based on an unrealistic assumption of no waste and extensive knowledge in marketing and cooking. An economical budget must be based on knowledge and skill, which is least likely to be present in low-income groups. (Rein, 1970)[Citation Needed]
Rowntree’s estimates further ignored the fact that most of their income was for food that his budget disallowed. Nor did he allow for the fact that choice of food is based on the conventions of a person’s social class and region, not upon a diet sheet drawn up by experts. Thus Peter Townsend argues that in relation to the budgets and customs of life of ordinary people, the make-up of the subsistence budget was unbalanced. Although to add to the debate Townsend's argument is fraught with difficulties as his definition of poverty is problematic. McLachlan(1983)[Citation Needed] suggests that Townsend's argument rests on promoting his definition of poverty; Mclachlan suggests that if poverty is present in the concept of X in as far as poverty represents the term X, that only means that the term poverty means X. So there is a distinction between defining the term X and identifying actual X's as X's. For instance, an alcoholic may be defined as some one who has an acute psychological and/or physiological dependence upon alcohol, but one could point to other non-defining features of alcoholics such as a red nose, rosy cheeks , cirrhosis of the liver. His arguments focus on the definition of terms or on reasons behind certain terms in particular. Thus not all the poverty described and identified as poverty is in fact poverty, it is something else.
Townsend's work accepts a multiplicity of ways in defining poverty, whether people are described as 'broke', or 'destitute' or 'underprivileged' - all such descriptions count as poverty. But poverty cannot be treated this way, otherwise all definitions of oppression or lack of resources or inadequacy might become classified as poverty, even though one can be oppressed but not in poverty, one can be broke or bankrupt or be suffering deprivation, but still not be living in poverty. The fact is that such situations may exist side by side with poverty but they are not factors that preclude or cause poverty. Therefore Townsend regards poverty not as a state that can be described by a multiplicity of words or linguistic descriptions but rather as a type of existence.
Liberal reforms
Rowntree was a supporter of the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and hoped that his work would influence Liberal politicians. Rowntree became close friends with David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
in 1907 after the two men met when Lloyd George was serving as President of the Board of Trade. The influence of Rowntree can be seen in the Liberal reforms
Liberal reforms
The Liberal welfare reforms were acts of social legislation passed by the British Liberal Party after the 1906 General Election. It has been argued that this legislation shows the emergence of the modern welfare state in the UK. They shifted their outlook from a laissez-faire system to a more...
passed by the Liberals when in power.
Labour Party
Poverty and Progress impacted on the policies of the post-war Labour Government and Poverty and the Welfare State was used in a 1951 Labour party election manifesto headed Ending Poverty although this was without his knowledge.Industrialist and philanthropist
Seebohm and the Rowntree's firm broke new ground in terms of industrial relations, welfare and management. Lyndall UrwickLyndall Urwick
Lyndall Fownes Urwick was an influential business management consultant and thinker in the United Kingdom. He is recognized for integrating the ideas of earlier theorists like Henri Fayol into a comprehensive theory of management administration. He wrote an influential book called The Elements...
describes him as "the British management movement's greatest pioneer" in his book Golden Book of Management. His religion impacted on his business practices and he believed that the existence of companies which paid low wages was bad for the "nation's economy and humanity". With his father, Joseph Rowntree
Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)
Joseph Rowntree was a Quaker philanthropist and businessman from York, England. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform and his time as a chocolatier at family business Rowntree's, one of the most important in Britain...
, a number of employee benefits were implemented including wage increases, an eight hour day and a pension scheme. In 1904 a doctor was employed to offer free advice to all employees and this was followed a short time later by the creation of a dental department with a resident dentist.
Seebohm oversaw the formation of an industrial psychology department in 1922 which pioneered the use of psychological recruitment tests in British industry. Employing psychologist Victor Moorrees who developed a new test, the form board selection test, to ascertain how well prospective employees would be able to fit chocolates into their box. He was also heavily involved in the National Institute of Industrial Psychology serving on its executive committee from its foundation in 1921, as chairman from 1940–47, until his resignation in 1949.
In 1947 when the British Institute of Management
Chartered Management Institute
The Chartered Management Institute is a professional institution for managers, based in the United Kingdom.In addition to supporting its members, the organisation encourages management development, carries out research, produces a wide variety of publications on management interests, and publishes...
was created he became an Honorary Founder Member and in 1952 the first English person to become an Honorary Fellow of the Institute.
External links
- Spartacus page on Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree
- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- University of Glasgow, Extracts from B. Seebohm Rowntree, Poverty: A Study of Town Life
See also
- Joseph RowntreeJoseph RowntreeJoseph Rowntree may be:*Joseph Rowntree , English grocer and educational reformer*Joseph Rowntree , son of the above, English chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist...
- Joseph Rowntree FoundationJoseph Rowntree FoundationThe Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a British social policy research and development charity, that funds a UK-wide research and development programme. It seeks to understand the root causes of social problems, to identify ways of overcoming them, and to show how social needs can be met in practice...
| Works by Seebohm Rowntree |
|---|
| Poverty, A Study of Town Life Poverty, A Study of Town Life Poverty, A Study of Town Life is the first book by social investigator Seebohm Rowntree and details his investigation of poverty in York and what this indicated about the nature of poverty at the start of the 20th century.... | The Land The Land (study) The Land was a 1913 work by Seebohm Rowntree. In his work Rowntree argued that poverty would be reduced by increasing the number of small landownings which farmers had. The work was commissioned by David Lloyd George who would later become Prime Minister .... | How the Labourer Lives | The Human Needs of Labour | The Human Factor in Business | Poverty and Progress | Poverty and the Welfare State | English Life and Leisure |