poverty and the poor laws

what was the impact of the increase of poverty?

* resulted in inflation - esp. in years between 1540-1640 - population increase putting pressure on resources esp. food.
* prices increased by as much as 800% but wages rose by only 300% - resulted in an increase in amount of poverty and growing divisions between rich and poor

who was particularly affected by the growth of poverty?

* those that didn’t produce enough for themselves to feed their own family and therefore did not have any left to sell.
* growing proportion of population who were increasingly reliant on wage labour saw a decline in living standards
* agriculture relied on seasonal employment - many rural labourers could only find employment for six months a year
* there were more people than jobs available - poverty increased as more people struggled to find full-time employment

why were the poor laws needed before 1640?

* population grew faster than the food resources - times when such pressure that starvation and death were a threat to those at the lower end of society

what were the poor laws?

* 1601 Elizabethan poor laws established a system of basic relief for those unable to work
* set up legal framework to tackle poverty - but no further reform to the system until 1834
* growth in poverty was reflected by the poor rate (tax levied on the parishes to cover poor relief) rose from £250,000 in 1650 to £700,000 by the end of the 1600s

how did the govt. aim to support the poor?

* attempted to regulate the trade in grain - to ensure that in times of harvest failure there were sufficient stocks of grain available at a low price - preventing starvation
* in response to harvest failures in 1629-30 Charles I Privy Council issued new Books of Orders - instructions to JPs about how they should carry out their local government duties - included advice on how to levy the poor rate and what actions to take when dealing with the poor - also encouraged people to take up apprenticeships
* by 1640 - 1,400 officers were responsible for organising poor relief in the parishes

what was poverty like in the early 1600s?

* \

what was the impact of vagrancy due to?

* rising unemployment, combined with economic hardship, resulted in an increase in homeless beggars who toured the country - most of these vagrants were in their late teens to early twenties
* records show that 22% of vagrants that passed through Salisbury had already covered 100 miles.
* begging and vagrancy became more of an issue in times of scarce resources

what was the impact of vagrancy?

* vagrants were seen as sources of crime and instability and were often rounded up and punished
* some were later transported to American colonies
* laws such as the 1662 Settlement Law were passed to limit movement - if a man left his own parish to work elsewhere he had to possess a settlement certificate guaranteeing that his home parish would pay for his return if he needed poor relief