The second world war saw the end of a lot of things, some great, some less great. While more and more women  were becoming employable in the world of work, many of the older ‘positions’ such as house staff in middle class houses were becoming out-dated.

But in this article on family and budgeting taken from the war years the family of five being accounted for includes a live-in maid as a part of that calculation! Mother, Father, two children and the house-maid.

A brave new world world indeed!

As a general rule of thumb:

£1 in 1910 = £109.34 in 2010.

£10 in 1910 = £1,093.40 in 2010.

In 1940, £200 would have been a good annual salary, so this example is obviously at the higher end of the earnings bracket.

Not that 1940 could be considered as a ‘normal’ working year  by any stretch of the imagination but it serves as a fairly good indication.

That being as it may and me being a cynical old sod at the best of times, I note with interest that one thing that has not been costed into the carefully prepared budget is the maids wages!

Is it just me?

I sense another article coming on . . .