Preview

Was the Poor Law of 1834 Effective

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
641 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Was the Poor Law of 1834 Effective
agree with the three main doctrines.Malthus's principle Ricardo's "iron law of wages" and Bentham's doctrine-----------The Act has been described as "the classic example of the fundamental Whig-Benthamite reforming legislation of the period", based on three main doctrines: Malthus's principle that population increased faster than resources unless checked, Ricardo's "iron law of wages" and Bentham's doctrine that people did what was pleasant, and would tend to claim relief rather than working. http://wapedia.mobi/en/Poor_Law_Amendmen… Population increased faster than resources unless checked people do what is pleasant, and would tend to claim relief rather than working . The history of the Poor Law in England and Wales is usually divided between two statutes, the Old Poor Law passed during the reign of Elizabeth I and the New Poor Law, passed in 1834, which significantly modified the existing system of poor relief. The Poor Law system was not formally abolished until the 1948 National Assistance Act, with parts of the law remaining on the statute book until 1967. The Poor Law system fell into decline at the beginning of the 20th century due to several factors, such as introduction of the Liberal welfare reforms and the availability of other sources of assistance from friendly societies and trade unions, as well as piecemeal reforms which bypassed the Poor Law system . Despite these later edicts it is notable that the Poor Law Amendment Act did not ban all forms of outdoor relief. When the new Amendment was applied to the industrial North of England (an area the law had never considered during reviews), the system failed catastrophically as many found themselves temporarily unemployed, due to recessions or a fall in stock demands, so called 'cyclical unemployment' and were reluctant to enter a Workhouse, despite it being the only method of gaining aid. The abuses and shortcomings of the system are documented in the novels of Charles Dickens and Frances Trollope.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    There was a growing awareness of poverty in Britain, especially in London in early 1900s. According to the research of Charles Booth in London, there were 25% of people that were living under abject poverty and over 35% of people were living under the poverty line of 0.90-1.05 pounds per week for a family with 3 children. The situation was severe and that was not only happening in London, but other cities as well. According to Seebhom Rowntree’s studies, there were 28% of people that lives in York could not afford to buy clothing and food. Social reform was definitely needed. At that time, some other new liberalism were arising, they aimed to give out minimum living standard for needy families. In contrast, the conservative was not doing anything good and the Education Act that did not please the society. As a result, a party that was providing more benefit to citizens and poverty became more successful and gained more voter’s…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The New Poor Law Amendment was an act which was intended to reform the country’s poverty relief system, keep people out of the workhouses and reduce outdoor relief. The sources suggest different insights on the view that the harshness associated with the new poor law was greatly exaggerated. Whilst source 18 relays some ideas of uncertainty on the view, source 16 and 17 show an extreme level of dissimilarity (Source 16 suggest agree with the view while source 17 suggests that the new poor law was absolutely horrendous.)…

    • 590 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 21- M3 D2

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages

    It was very important that in the 19th century the poor law act was put in place this was due to the fact there were a lot of individuals who were extremely poor and couldn’t provide for themselves. The poor law act gave the individuals a chance to live even though most of the time individuals had to go to a workhouse they had to work for food and shelter the individuals, even when family were poor when they went to the working house they had to be separated to do different jobs, this was still rewarding after as they were given food and shelter. This act was incredibly important due to the fact that it give the individuals a chance to live and even though the conditions within the work house was horrendous it still shelter and they were given food to eat. The poor law act was important because it saved many individuals lives.…

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The extent of poverty in Britain was brought to light through the surveys of Booth and Rowntree. Booth conducted his survey first, he was told 25% of people living in east London were living in poverty; he believed this to be untrue and wanted to prove it wrong. He discovered it was actually over a third of the population in east London that were living in poverty. Booth then expanded his investigation to the whole of London, it took 12 years and he discovered a third of all people in London were in poverty. Rowntree saw this data and decided to conduct his own survey and also found that in York a third of the population was in poverty. People then realised that if in York, which was seen as a typical English city, they had these problems too that it must be a nation-wide problem. This data proved how many people were actually living in poverty and that the circumstances around why they were poor weren’t always caused by the poor. Rowntree, in his research, looked at poverty very closely; he defined it in two parts, either ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ poverty. People were starting to accept that poverty wasn’t always caused by an individual and…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A major and obvious problem with the poor law was that the population was rapidly increasing. Depending on the size of a family, they were given more money to help support each member of that family although the money per person had actually decreased if calculated. Even though this was so, having more money meant more food on the table source 2, written by Mark Blaug, shows that “many of the criticisms of the Old Poor Law are based on assumption”. One of the assumptions was that people were having more children in order to get more money. Although there was no proof for the poor law being the reason, many still believed that this was the only way the population could be growing so rapidly and because there were more people, the poor population was growing and therefore required more money. This meant that rate payers had to pay more money and although more money was being put in, the amount given to each individual went down in order to be shared out hence why the view that the Old Poor Law was making poverty worse came about. A defence of this criticism would be that the Old Poor Law did promote population growth but via the death rate rather than the birth rate. Because people were given money to survive, more people were staying alive and healthy rather than dying of starvation or a lack of nutrients thus proving that the Old Poor Law also worked well to certain extent.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He felt that the poor laws increased dependency and poverty and they would increase the numbers of the poor than decrease them. Benjamin Franklin had four standpoints of criticism of the poor laws. His first stance was that everyone did not work for pleasure but for necessity and the poor laws created a security for "idleness" (Williams, 1994, p 83). His second standpoint was that everyone was responsible for their own economic welfare and providing aid would destroy initiative. His third argument states that "idleness, dependence, and vice" are created in the working class by public aid to the poor.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The shift in the different working systems led to a shift in economic thinking. Adam Smith’s Laissez Faire policies were thought to be the key factor in a controlled economy. Agriculture shifted to the cottage industry and then the cottage industry shifted to the factory system. Thus, decreasing opportunities for both urban and rural working classes. Due to this, the quality of life, also known as the standard of living, had shifted. Population increase, mostly due to the disappearance of the plague and the availability of medicine had many people desperate for jobs. In the 18th and early 19th century, the shift in economic thinking provided a more liberal economy, which later turned out to affect the different working classes in aspects such as conditions and regulations, ultimately, lowering the standard of living.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dbq Poverty Analysis

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Town councils and poorhouse’s thought that the poor should be punished through regulations and disciplinary actions because they were idle and did not contribute to society.…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After two unsuccessful electoral campaigns in the late 19th century and early 20th century, numerous splits in the party after William Gladstone's retirement, and the growing awareness of the issue of poverty within the UK, key figures within the Liberal party realised a change in the direction of Liberalism was required. They pushed for 'New Liberalism', a more modern form of Liberalism that stressed numerous key fundamental values, one of which was that intervention by the state was key in establishing a minimum quality of life for people within the country. Thus from their electoral triumph in 1906, and especially from 1908 onwards, the Liberal government passed a series of social and welfare reforms in an attempt to raise the quality of living standards within the UK. The Liberals based these reforms on three main groups within society, the elderly, the young, and the unemployed. This essay will explore several of the reforms the Liberal government introduced including the National Insurance act, the old age pensions act, a selection of educational acts, as well as acts regarding employment issues; assessing the aims of the acts and arguing how successful they actually proved to be in reducing the issue of poverty in the UK.…

    • 1369 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    rudy

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages

    7. Care for the poor in England prior to enactment of the Elizabethan Poor Law was:…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dbq Corn Law

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The prices have gone really high ,so the poor got frustrated and grain prices were a lot higher which the people needed for a living. Soon, in 1815, Parlaiment passed a corn law to maintain high prices for demestice produced grain through import from foreign grain. The aristocrats had a lot of avantage during Metternich;s time ,but in England, trade parameter was discussed with nobles, middle class and aristocrats. The traders wanted to depend on foreign crops just to have supply of money. The foreign crops were though in high price which made it harder for the poor to pay. The corn law made both the poor and the wealth pay sale tax on consumer goods. The revoke of the Corn Law helped the poor gain better and low-priced foods, made the aristocracy and the anti-corn law middle class business fall down.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty and Social Work

    • 8869 Words
    • 36 Pages

    From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America- Walter I. Trattner…

    • 8869 Words
    • 36 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In 1815, the passing of the Corn Laws - laws prohibiting the importation of foreign grains - only benefitted the British aristocracy. Similarly, during the Agricultural Revolution of 1650 to 1840, a law called the Enclosure Acts also only benefitted the aristocracy; these laws forced common farmers to vacate the countryside and move to rural cities. Both of these laws were detrimental to the British lower class carners, but were advantageous tot he…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was another tough day. I worked for than 11 hours today. I am usually use to working really long hours in the factory but today I felt exhausted. As a young worker in the factory I really feel like a usual adult. I mean we all work the same number of hours, depending on the day. With the Industrial Revolution growing I can only expect for my brothers and sisters to work even harder. But today was an unusual day, on my way home from work I saw a group of protestors. They were chanting something about New Poor Law. I wanted to talk to my mother but she was too tired, she nearly worked 20 hours. So, I went to my neighbors. She is 14, one year older than me and more knowledgeable than me. She told me that the New Poor Law was the reason why…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chartism, British working-class movement for parliamentaryreformnamed after thePeople’s Charter, a bill drafted by theLondonradicalWilliamLovettin May 1838. It contained six demands: universal manhoodsuffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, annually elected Parliaments, payment of members ofParliament, and abolition of the property qualifications for membership. Chartism was the first movement both working class in character and national in scope that grew out of the protest against the injustices of the new industrial and political order in Britain. While composed of working people, Chartism was also mobilized around populism as well as clan identity.ImagesThe movement was born amid the economic depression of 1837–38, when high unemploymentand the effects of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 were felt in all parts of Britain. Lovett’s charter provided a program acceptable to a heterogeneous working-class population. The movement swelled to national importance under the vigorous leadership of the IrishmanFeargus Edward O’Connor, who stumped the nation in 1838 in support of the six points. While some of the massive Irish presence in Britain supported Chartism, most were devoted to the Catholic Repeal movement ofDaniel O’Connell.A Chartist convention met in London in February 1839 to prepare apetitionto present to Parliament.“Ulterior measures” were threatened should Parliament ignore the demands, but the delegates differed in their degrees of militancy and over whatform “ulterior measures” should take. In May the convention moved to Birmingham, where riots led to the arrest of its moderate leaders Lovett and John Collins.The rump of the convention returned to London and presented its petition in July. Parliament rejected it summarily. There followed in Novemberan armed rising of the “physical force” Chartists atNewport, which was quickly suppressed. Its principal leaders were banished toAustralia, and nearly every other Chartist leader was arrested…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics