Mrs. Pember Reeves

Round about a Pound a Week

"Round about a Pound a Week" by Mrs. Pember Reeves is a social survey published in 1913. This groundbreaking Fabian Society study follows several dozen "respectable poor" working-class families in Lambeth, London, where breadwinners earned roughly a pound weekly. Despite stable employment, one in five children died at birth. Through detailed family budgets and observations of daily struggles—from food rationing to pawning boots—the work reveals appalling conditions and argues for government reforms including child benefits and school dinners.