In A Christmas Carol how much did Scrooge pay Bob Cratchit?

Answer 1

he pays bob 15 shillings a week which roughly about 5p now

2nd Answer: The above figure is correct. While not dire poverty, it is quite low. It works out to 39 pounds per year. "Family wages" for Victorian England was probably closer to 50 pounds per year, and even at that it would be a very modest living with very little or anything left for luxuries or "extras". A skilled tradesman would earn more that Bob if fully employed, so it is strange that Bob, a white collar worker who would have had a marketable skill, would accept such wages. Of course if he didn't there wouldn't be much of a story, so perhaps its not best to take Dickens as a study in economics.