poverty

growth, solutions

growth of poverty

causes

• govt - provided limited help

• pop growth - unemployment, competition for work (towns, farmers), price inflation

• agriculture - jobs = seasonally employed, harvest failures

• → inflation

  • ⭡ prices by 800%

  • threatened lower classes w starvation + death

poverty

• more than 1/3 pop = in poverty

• 2/3 urban pop lived near poverty line = minimum level of income needed to secure basic necessities of life

• lot of village workforces took up servant jobs to escape poverty

• ⭣ living conditions of rural poor

  • ⭡ enclosure of common land - less space to graze their animals on (→ food shortage)

• types of poor = settled + vagrant

settled poor

• est in 1 parish

• didn’t move around to beg/find work

• 1/4 pop

vagrant poor

• move around from place to place to beg/find work

• growth of vagrant homeless beggars (unemployment etc)

• c 0.5% pop arrested for vagrancy

  • treated as criminals under the law, assoc w instability (rep wider breakdown of econ)

  • some had to turn to crime bc unable to claim poor relief

women

• oft affected by poverty -

• patriarchy

• reliant on male fam for money

• widows struggled to get income on their own

• caring for unwell father/husband

deserving poor

• ppl/authorities oft more lenient to those deemed as deserving of help

  • elderly

  • disabled

  • children

how was poverty dealt with?

the Poor Laws

• had been est 1601 w Elizabeth’s Poor Relief Act

• set out system of relief for those unable to work

  • legal framework for dealing w poverty

• aim = provide essentials so ppl x starve + can get jobs (work for econ)

• the Poor Rate est

  • overseers (parish officials) = responsible for collecting poor relief taxes + deciding who wld receive relief

• permitted begging for food in a person’s home parish

Book of Orders

• ‘31 intro by Charles I

  • due to harvest failures, poverty + fear of rioting

• set out instructions to JPs on how they shld carry out local govt duties

  • eg how to levy the poor rate

wealthy gentry/individuals

• provided charitable gifts + endowments to poor

• eg Sir Hugh Cholmondley

causes of the Settlement Act

• passed by Cavalier parl ‘62 in response to -

• econ depression - began ‘58

• post ‘60 restoration wealthier parishes began complaining that vagrants from poorer districts = squatting on common land claiming poor relief from community

the Settlement Act

• gave ⭡ power to local administrators

• attempted to restrict movement of individuals claiming poor relief

• intro settlement certificates = needed to claim relief

  • proved where a person’s home parish was

    • significant - poor ppl cld prove where they live

  • needed to be in parish 40 days to qualify

    • cld be sent back to prev parish during period if someone complained/reported them

• est definition of what constituted a poor person

  • poor ppl worthy of help = ppl renting property worth less than £10

• est 2 shillings reward for apprehending vagrant/beggar

• set up a large poorhouse in London

  • £4,000 provided for construction

  • by ‘69 rumoured parts of it = turned into alehouse

did the lives of the poor improve?

• post ‘62 poverty = still the most common topic of petitions

• rate of complete poverty ⭣ over the period

  • incl severe destitution, starvation

• improvement - ⭡ employment ops, private charity, govt laws

• limitations - pop ⭡, immobile attitudes (x sympathy, govt restrictions), reliance on poor relief