The Social and Economic Conditions1900-1935:

Housing

A shanty town or slum settlement in Jamaica.

Firstly, in the towns there were a number of slum settlements that developed as men and
women flocked to the towns seeking a better life and better jobs. These members of the
lower class usually squatted on a small piece of land and built structures that were very
small and not sound of structure. There were also overcrowded and unhygienic tenement
yards which structures that were rented out.

The housing for the lower class in the towns were dilapidated wooden shacks usually
comprising one or two rooms which accommodated an entire family. They were built
haphazardly and had little or no amenities (no running water or indoor plumbing, and
electricity). There were no proper roads nor drainage. There was a shared standpipe in the
yard, with limited water supply. From this, they collected water for washing and cooking.
There was also no proper system of garbage disposal.

The roofs were often made from corrugated and even rusty zinc. They leaked when it rained
because they could not afford to new roofing or because the landlord's emphasis was not on
repairs but collection of rent. Because the demand for housing was so high, tenants were
afraid to complain too loudly. The landlord's would merely give them notice and rent the

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place to someone else forcing them to find another place. This was not an easy task
especially if you had children.

A shack in the town.

The houses were overcrowded and had poor sanitation. This led to the spread of diseases of
which many of the inhabitants suffered from. Compounding the situation was the shared
outhouses built close to the shacks. There were little furnishings within these structures and
often times families shared a bed usually situated on the floor.

Not everyone lived in a slum settlement in the towns. There were members of the lower class
who rented a room in a building. These rooms were also very overcrowded and had poor
sanitation. They would have few furnishings and had shared washroom facilities. Better off
families would be able to afford a small house of their own. These living conditions would
have been better than those renting a room, however, the quality of housing was not always
of a high standard. Rent was usually high in the towns and it was a struggle for some families
to afford it.

Those of the middle class would have been able to afford rent for a small house or even own
one themselves. In the middle class, there were variations in the quality of housing as some
were able to afford better housing than others. However, we must note that there were many
who kept up appearances by having a house, but were struggling financially otherwise.

In the rural areas most of the houses were constructed by the owner with the help of other
villages. A number of persons inherited land from their families who had acquired it through

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the free village movement the century before. There were also families who rented a small
hut.

Many of the houses were made of bamboo walls and/or wattle and daub (mud). They usually
had a thatched roof and dirt floors. A few were able to have galvanized roofs. The houses
usually had a large room which was called the hall (living room). The verandah was a must.
It afforded one the pleasure of looking out on the horizon, catching the cooling breeze and
calling to one's neighbour.

Wattle and daub.

Huts in the rural areas.

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These families of the lower class faced overcrowding, little furnishings and no indoor
plumbing. These huts were usually one or two rooms and cooking was done outside.
Outhouses were also built for the use of the family. Conditions here were just as poor as for
some in the towns.

In British Guiana and Trinidad a large majority of the population were immigrants or
descendants of immigrants. They still lived in the long unsanitary barracks that were
provided for them as part of their contract. The barrack is a long wooden building, 11 or
12 feet wide containing perhaps eight or ten small rooms divided from each other by
wooden partitions not reaching the roof. The roof was either thatch or galvanize and the
walls made of wood.

These rooms were usually overcrowded as they were occupied by an entire family. By
standing on a box, the occupant of one room could look over the partition into the other
one and could see their boys and girls if they have children. All the noises and talking
and smells passed through the open space from one end of the barrack to the other. There
was little privacy in the barracks.

There were no places for cooking and no latrines. Cooking was also done outside with a
nearby river or stream providing a water supply to the occupants. The men, and women,
boys and girls would go together in the canes or bush when nature requires. Even when
latrines were built, they were shared, and planters still had problems convincing the
immigrants to use them. Comfort, privacy and decency were impossible.