Poor law

   

The poor law was the system for the provision of social security in operation in England and the United Kingdom from the 16th century until the establishment of the Welfare State in the 20th century.

The act of 1601

Acts of 1572 and 1597 prescribed relief for the poor on a parish basis, often, though not always, in the establishment of a parish workhouse where the destitute, but able-bodied, were to live and work to sustain themselves and to sustain the aged and infirm also lodged there.

The Poor Law Act 1601 formalised earlier practices and made a distinction between:

  • The sick and elderly, who were able to receive relief while living at home, the so-called outdoor relief; and
  • The able-bodied and indolent, who were to be harshly treated, usually in a workhouse, until they accepted work.

There was much variation in the application of the law and there was a tendency for the destitute to migrate towards the more generous parishes. This led to the Settlement Act 1662 which allowed relief only to established residents of a parish. The act led to severe distortion of the labour market.

The eighteenth century

In 1723, Sir Edward Knatchbull steered the Workhouse Test Act through parliament. The act allowed parishes to combine in parish unions to establish workhouses where relief would be provided in return for submission to the authority of the master and acceptance of set work. The act led to a dramatic rise in the number of workhouses.

In 1782, Thomas Gilbert finally succeeded in passing an act that established poor houses solely for the aged and infirm and introduced a system of outdoor relief for the able-bodied.

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834

The workhouse was seen as a refuge of shame by the working population and, thoughout the 18th century, outdoor relief had grown more prevalent, leading up to the development of the Speenhamland system. Dissatisfaction with the system grew at the beginning of the 19th century. The 1601 system had costs that fell locally on each individual parish and was widely perceived as implemented in a way that actually encouraged the underlying problems, pushing more people into poverty even while it helped those who were already in poverty.

In 1832, a commission was launched to review the operation of the system. It was strongly influenced by Nassau Senior who did much of the work involved with diagnosing the problems and proposing and implementing solutions.

The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 abolished outdoor relief and reformed workhouses to be uninviting, so that anyone capable of coping outside them would choose not to be in one. It also established a Poor Law Board to oversee the operation of the system on a national scale.

The abuses and shortcomings of the system are well-documented in the novels of Charles Dickens.

The end of the poor law

Workhouses were abolished by the Local Government Act 1929 and responsibility for social security given to the newly-formed local authorities.

External links

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