topic 9 - the poor laws

what were the poor laws?

a parish system of financial relief for the poor which was paid for by parish members

parish members paid poor rates to support the poor however this rate was…

increasing due to the increase in people who needed outdoor relief

rich landowners (who were often to main contributors to outdoor relief) were upset about the increase in rates which led to them…

cutting wages which meant even more people needed outdoor relief

what was the average annual expenditure on poor relief from 1830-34?

around £7 million

what happened in 1832?

a commission was appointed to investigate poor relief

what was the aim of this commission?

to find ways to save money on the poor rates rather than to ease the plight of the poor

why did this commission have more utilitarian aims than humanitarian ones?

because its most influential member was Edwin Chadwick who was a prominent utilitarian

what did Chadwick want to do to the poor law system?

make it uniform and efficient to become value for money

the commissions recommendations became…

the terms of the 1834 act

term 1

outdoor relief was no longer provided for the able bodied poor

term 2

the able bodied poor who could not be helped at home (in their parish) would be provided relief at the workhouse

conditions in workhouses were made to be as…

unattractive as possible, so that poor people would make every effort to find work and only come to the workhouse as a last resort

what did the government hope poor conditions in the workhouse would encourage?

'self help' and thriftiness as it would prevent the poor from looking on the workhouse as a haven of refuge

did the poor law amendment act help reduce the poor rates?

yes - by 1835, the average annual expenditure on poor relief had dropped to £4.5 million

who was the poor law amendment act popular with?

benthamites and ratepayers as it was efficient and cheaper

who critiqued the poor law amendment act?

the working class, humanitarians and the press as they found it cruel and inhumane

the new system ignored the causes of poverty and unemployment and instead…

assumed that it was the fault of the individual rather than a societal issue

what were conditions in the workhouse like?

horrific - normal people were herded together with criminals and lunatics - families were separated - inmates were forced to work extremely long hours doing harsh manual labour

if anything, the new poor law drove people towards supporting…

chartism as it highlighted how out of touch politicians were with the plight of the poor

why could it be argued that the p.l.a.a was done to appease the newly enfranchised middle class?

it would help them reassert their control over the working class following years of social unrest whilst also meaning their taxes were lowered (

the whigs may have been hoping that by doing this…

they would gain the support of the middle class in future elections

who's views/reasoning inspired the poor laws?

Thomas malthus

Malthus believed that….

factors like famine and war were needed to keep the population low otherwise it would grow rapidly and become unstable

malthusian reasoning in the p.l.a.a - helping the poor would only encourage them to…

have more children, thus spreading poverty - this was why workhouses were segregated by sex