CHANGE WITHIN THE FAMILY

Couples were now having fewer children, for the middle classes it became increasingly expensive to buy things that made them 'middle class' and so having fewer children meant money could be stretched further. 

The need to buy things was fueled during the later Industrial Revolution. The Great Exhibition of 1851 brought goods to the attention of over 6 million visitors. Goods that most people never thought they needed, now became must have items for the growing middle classes. By 1900, suburbia had grown.

Husbands commuted and wives stayed at home separated from their husbands lives. It became obvious that some sort of occupation was needed to fill the long days and volunteering served that purpose.

                          VOLUNTEERING
Churches supplied the social services in the early 20th Century society. The churches and related charities were, by and large, headed by men who oversaw an immense army of female volunteers. With the responsibility of volunteering, women found a new confidence. They began to mix with a wider spectrum of people and they began to take an interest in political work. Women's political work was kept separate from the politics of men, largely involving organizing money raising events and campaigning but for some women this was never going to be enough.