Context of A Christmas Carol - Poverty and Disease

Poverty and Disease
The combination of poverty, overcrowding and bad sanitation left impoverished Victorians open to disease.
Many workers worked long hours with little access to clean, fresh air and sunlight.
During the Victorian Era, the life expectancy in London was only 37 - today in London, the average is 90.05.
There were many epidemics happening in London during the Victorian Era. The two most common and well-known being Cholera and Tuberculosis.
Poor Victorians lived in the most dreadful conditions. Sometimes families of 12 or more were squeezed into tiny rooms, or in alleyways or streets near sewers or public toilets.
These unsanitary conditions made it easy for disease to spread - especially since there was a lack of knowledge surrounding medicines and cures for diseases at the time.

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