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The First World War and Working-Class Food Consumption in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Newell

    (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, UK
    IZA, Bonn, Germany)

  • Ian Gazeley

    (Department of History, University of Sussex, UK)

Abstract

We re-assess the changes in British working class diets through WW1. The 1918 Sumner Committee’s work on this was limited by a lack of consistency across household surveys. Our rediscovered 1904 data allow a cleaner comparison. Though calorie intake was maintained, we find a closing of the nutritional gap between skilled and unskilled workers. We also find reductions in intakes of several key vitamins. These were possibly side effects of the food control system For many unregulated foodstuffs, such as fruit and vegetables, prices rose dramatically as production fell, and this may have been what caused the fall in vitamin C intake among skilled workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Newell & Ian Gazeley, 2012. "The First World War and Working-Class Food Consumption in Britain," Working Paper Series 5012, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:sus:susewp:5012
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    File URL: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/economics/documents/wps-50-2012.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Kota Ogasawara & Ian Gazeley & Eric B. Schneider, 2020. "Nutrition, Crowding, And Disease Among Low‐Income Households In Tokyo In 1930," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 73-104, March.
    2. Ian Gazeley & Andrew Newell, 2015. "Urban working-class food consumption and nutrition in Britain in 1904," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(1), pages 101-122, February.
    3. Pei Gao & Eric B. Schneider, 2021. "The growth pattern of British children, 1850–1975," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 341-371, May.
    4. Mark Harrison, 2016. "Myths of the Great War," Studies in Economic History, in: Jari Eloranta & Eric Golson & Andrei Markevich & Nikolaus Wolf (ed.), Economic History of Warfare and State Formation, pages 135-158, Springer.
    5. Joël Floris & Kaspar Staub & Ulrich Woitek, 2016. "The benefits of intervention: birth weights in Basle 1912-1920," ECON - Working Papers 236, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    6. Floris, Joël & Müller, Consuela & Woitek, Ulrich, 2015. "The Biological Standard of Living in Zurich during WWI," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112909, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Neil Chalmers & Stacia Stetkiewicz & Padhmanand Sudhakar & Hibbah Osei-Kwasi & Christian J Reynolds, 2019. "Impacts of Reducing UK Beef Consumption Using a Revised Sustainable Diets Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    First World War; Britain; food controls; food consumption; nutrition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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