Life in Britain was very hard for some, because the way that it worked then was it divided people into two social classes. Poor, and wealthy.
Now, the poor were often working as fish merchants or fruit sellers or bread sellers. Sometimes they even found flowers to sell, but of course that did not make great business. The poor usually lived in the farmhouses and tiny, apartment-like homes, and the most poor of them on the city streets.
The wealthy lived in noble homes. Many wealthy people owned other homes that commoners paid them to keep. They called this the rent. The landowners were very strict about how they wanted the house kept, so the commoners didn't have so much freedom as to keep a pet there, much like today. The wealthy also in a way, discriminated the commoners, by not giving them rights, not listening to them, and the most rude one of all was this: When a wealthy noble or Noble's daughter walked upon the cobblestone streets of old Britain and saw a commoner, they were told not to look at it and not to buy whatever it was this man or woman was selling, simply because they had less.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Life_in_britain_1800s

Just like society today there was two social classes, though economics say its more but due to the increase in economic crisis and job losses either you are rich or poor(struggling.)

Like living areas as well in present day society those from what we can safely call suburban areas frown on those from urban areas as if they are lesser people. Most law makers come from such social areas yet they still make laws from urban areas which they feel are beneath them and too low class for them to be present in. What a world.