26 Facts About Seebohm Rowntree

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist.

Seebohm Rowntree is known in particular for his three studies of poverty in York, conducted in 1899,1935, and 1951.

Seebohm Rowntree was born in York, the second son of the Quaker industrialist Joseph Rowntree and his wife Emma Antoinette Seebohm, daughter of Wilhelm Seebohm.

Seebohm Rowntree was educated first privately and then from the age of 10 at Bootham School.

Seebohm Rowntree became the first Labour Director in 1897 when the firm became a limited liability company and was the chairman from 1923 to 1941.

Seebohm Rowntree investigated poverty in York, inspired by the work of his father Joseph Seebohm Rowntree and the work of Charles Booth in London.

Seebohm Rowntree carried out a comprehensive survey into the living conditions of the poor in York during which investigators visited every working class household.

Seebohm Rowntree determined this level using social scientific methods which had not been applied to the study of poverty before.

Seebohm Rowntree then surveyed the prices of food in York to find the cheapest prices in the area for purchasing the food required by this minimum diet and used this information to set his poverty line.

Seebohm Rowntree's statistics have since been challenged by other sociological researchers such as Gazeley and Newell who argued he "overestimated the needs of children relative to adults and did not allow for economies of scale", resulting in inflated measurement of primary poverty.

Seebohm Rowntree placed those below his poverty line into two groups depending on the reason for their poverty.

Seebohm Rowntree conducted a further study of poverty in York in 1936 under the title Poverty and Progress.

Seebohm Rowntree's results showed that the causes of poverty had changed considerably in a few decades.

David Lloyd George urged Seebohm Rowntree to write on rural living conditions in Britain: The Land and How the Labourer Lives looked at the living conditions of farming families.

Seebohm Rowntree argued that an increase in landholdings would make agriculture more productive.

Seebohm Rowntree expressed his conviction of the possibility of establishing a close-knit community including both the management and the workers.

Seebohm Rowntree was a supporter of the Liberal Party and hoped that his work would influence Liberal politicians.

Seebohm Rowntree became close friends with David Lloyd George in 1907 after the two men met when Lloyd George was serving as President of the Board of Trade.

The influence of Seebohm Rowntree can be seen in the Liberal reforms passed by the Liberals when in power.

Seebohm Rowntree was a member of the Liberal Industrial Inquiry which published Britain's Industrial Future, better known as the Yellow Book, in 1928.

Seebohm Rowntree's Quaker upbringing influenced his business practice; he believed that the existence of companies which paid low wages was bad for the "nation's economy and humanity".

Seebohm Rowntree was personally involved in two major conciliation efforts following strikes in 1919 and 1926.

The Seebohm Rowntree Cocoa Works was a site of great scientific investigation and became internationally known as such.

Seebohm Rowntree was a great believer in trained specialists, and employed many at the Cocoa Works.

Seebohm Rowntree oversaw the formation of an industrial psychology department in 1922 which pioneered the use of psychological recruitment tests in British industry.

Seebohm Rowntree was heavily involved in the National Institute of Industrial Psychology serving on its executive committee from its foundation in 1921, as chairman from 1940 to 1947, until his resignation in 1949.