Real Wages, the Economic Cycle, and Mortality in England and Wales, 1870–1914

Abstract

The mortality rates of the various age groups within the population of England and Wales fell dramatically between 1870 and 1914, and this period has been used to examine McKeown's thesis of an inverse relationship between a population's mortality rate and its standard of living. Using real wages as a measure of living standards, McKeown's thesis is found to hold for most age groups for most of the period. Several anomalies are identified, however, and it is argued that these can best be reconciled with the original thesis by taking account of the economic cycle.