Introduction: conversations in cold rooms -- 1. Constructing femininity: women, work and poverty -- 2. Invading bodies: gender and danger in Newcastle -- 3. 'You are forced to do something for a living': women and white-lead work -- 4. 'A fine race of women': Northumbrian bondagers -- 5. Regulating poverty, regulating gender: the administration of poor relief -- 6. Being 're-made' and 'making do': working-class women and philanthropy
Summary
In what ways did gender influence the shape of poverty, and of poor women's work, in Victorian England? This book explores the problem in the context of nineteenth-century Northumberland, examining urban and rural conditions for women, poor relief debates and practices, philanthropic activity, working-class cultures, and 'protective' intervention in women's employment
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-236) and index