My ancestors get better off the further back I go on most lines - why?

[Greensleeves]

I must say, Hilary, that it surprises me that the orphaned grand-children in both our families were left to fend for themselves, and had not received bequests from their grandfathers.  I could understand why the widows were not provided for if they remarried, but in the case of my family, the widow did not remarry and the children were all below the age of 12 on her husband's death.  It does seem a very harsh way of going about things, particularly when my ancestor, too, was a wealthy Yeoman and there would appear to have been land and assets enough to keep everyone fairly comfortable.

[bykerlads]

My family most definitely gets wealthier as time went on.
A few examples of doing rather well in trade in the 1800's but the real steps upward began in the 20thC.
After WW1 much, much smaller numbers of children ensured that even working class families were a bit more prosperous.
The greatest leaps forward came post WW2 when access to grammar schools became truly open. ( before the mid 1940's you had to pay to go to even state grammars, so most working class children could not go)
Fuelled by better nutrition in the form of free milk, orange juice proper school dinners and, most significantly, cod liver oil, all my generation of the family burst through the barriers to well-paid jobs previously so carefully guarded by the better-off classes.
There is a lot of talk about trying to increase social mobility today. Actually very easy to achieve if the state took back responsilbily for childhood nutrition and health, and provided an education system which rewarded ability and hard work.