Daily Life in 19th Century Europe

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Daily Life in the Nineteenth Century Europeans in the nineteenth century had experienced very dramatic changes in their everyday lives. People underwent changes in areas of life such as life expectancy, healthcare, diet, use of intoxicants, marriage, and sexuality. Some of the changes in values were unheard of prior to the vital revolution. Social status also had an effect in how people lived and made many decisions. Many different factors helped people prosper, but there were also many challenges that people faced and failed. In 1750, life expectancy averaged between 28 to 33 years. However, these numbers began to increase during the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century saw life expectancy reach as high as 39.9 years for males and 43.5 in females. England, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden saw higher increases in life expectancy that ranged anywhere from 35.1 years to 39.9 years old in men, and 35.4 to 43.5 years old in women. Social class played a role as well. The wealthy usually lived longer than the laborers. However, Russia’s biological Old Regime prevented their life expectancy’s rise, and kept them in the lower 30’s. Throughout the eighteenth century, death rates were very high. Mortality rates were as high as 36 deaths per 1000 people in England. With improvements in quality of life and medicine, and decreases in infant mortality, the nineteenth century saw a decrease in the death rate. For instance, Denmark saw very low mortality rates of 13.2 per 1000 people. The worst mortality rates were in Spain and Russia. Spain had a death rate of 22.8 per 1000, and Russia was 29. These mortality rates were still an improvement from those of the previous century. Industrialization and better living conditions played a role in the falling mortality rate, as well as the decline of infant and childhood mortality. In the beginning of the
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