1 Many people in the rural areas worked as agricultural laborers and lived in poverty with large families crammed into small cottages.
2 The rural poor had limited access to healthcare and education, which resulted in high infant mortality rates and low literacy rates.
3 The living conditions in the rural areas were often unsanitary and unhygienic, with inadequate sewage and drainage systems.
4 Many rural families supplemented their income by taking in lodgers or performing piecework such as lace making or straw plaiting.
5 The workhouses were seen as a last resort for the rural poor, who would have to surrender their independence and live in harsh conditions in exchange for food and shelter.