1834 Poor Law Amendment Act

Question 1

What was the problem with the system of poor relief at this time?

Answer 1

It was based on the old Speenhamland Systemof outdoor relief which had existed since the Napoleonic Wars. It suppressed wages, as farmers were able to depend on workers receiving a supplement when prices rose. This system had become almost impossible to maintain

Question 2

What was the consequence of price fluctuations and recession in the 1820s and 30s for workers?

Answer 2

It caused periods of high unemployment

Question 3

What happened to those workers who managed to stay employed throughout the 1820s and 30s?

Answer 3

Their wages were inadequate, as food prices remained high, mostly as a result of the Corn Laws preventing the import of cheap grain

Question 4

Where did pressure for reform of the system of poor relief come from?

Answer 4

The middle classes, seeking a solution to unemployment and poverty and the amounts they paid towards poor relief

Question 5

Why was Chadwick acting in line with middle class interests?

Answer 5

His approach was in line with the middle class objective to cut costs, regarding the current system as wasteful and inefficient

Question 6

What does Freeman say about Chadwick’s reforms?

Answer 6

The solution was radical and introduced at the poorest people’s expense

Question 7

What happened to outdoor relief for the able bodied?

Answer 7

It was abolished as it was thought to encourage idleness, in its place a system of indoor relief was to be established

Question 8

What was the Poor Law Commission?

Answer 8

A central authority consisting of three members that was set up to oversee the implementation of the new law

Question 9

What happened to the Parish system of poor relief to make it more centralised?

Answer 9

Parishes were grouped together into Unions and each union was responsible for the maintenance of a workhouse, managed by a locally elected Board of Guardians

Question 10

What was the principle of less eligibility?

Answer 10

Stated that the conditions of those receiving poor relief should be less favourable than the conditions of the poorest labourer who was not. This was to ensure that labourers did not feel outdone by poor relief and those on poor relief were still encouraged to find work

Question 11

What did the principle of less eligibility mean within workhouses?

Answer 11

That conditions were made deliberately harsh in the belief that only the most desperate would submit themselves to these degradations

Question 12

Clarify the difference between indoor and outdoor relief

Answer 12

Outdoor relief was a payment made from the poor rates to subsidise low wages or unemployment. It was believed that its removal would force wages up and end poverty. The intention was to replace it with indoor relief that would only be available within a workhouse

Question 13

How were the workhouses set up to be a deterrent to idleness?

Answer 13

Because their almost inhuman conditions would stop anyone but the most desperate from entering

Question 14

How was the new indoor system of poor relief seen by its creators?

Answer 14

As a social policy directed towards improving work ethic

Question 15

What did policy makers ignore when creating a policy with the intention of stopping the able bodies scrounging off the Parish?

Answer 15

The helplessness of many hardworking people who either failed to find a job or one that paid enough to meet their families’ basic needs

Question 16

What does Mathias say in criticism of the new system?

Answer 16

That it assumed unemployment was an option for the worker when it was infact involuntary, caused by economic, structural and technological changes

Question 17

What was the economic benefit of centralising the provision of poor relief?

Answer 17

It would end the existing arbitrary provision of poor relief and so cut the cost to taxpayers

Question 18

How can the reform be seen as an economic success?

Answer 18

There was a drop in the average annual poor rates from £6.5 million pounds from 1830-4 to £4.5 million 1835-9. This was because the new system of poor relief deterred all but the most desperate

Question 19

Why was their resistance to the new system of poor relief in the industrial north?

Answer 19

Applying the new indoor system of poor relief to industrial areas with expanding populations was totally impractical, as during any period of recession, when unemployment was high and wages were low, it was impossible to accommodate all the needy. This meant that the inadequate system of outdoor relief continued in the north and few workhouses were built

Question 20

How can the reform be seen as a failure in terms of social policy?

Answer 20

Poverty was not solved and the imposition of grim workhouse conditions angered the labouring poor and edged them towards chartism - a working class movement for political reform

Question 21

How can the reform be seen as being an administrative revolution?

Answer 21

It was an early example of a central government institution, with paid officials in control of locally managed institutions. This structure could be applied to other institutions and pre-empted the introduction of departments of State

Question 22

What motivated the Poor Law Commission according to Briggs?

Answer 22

The saw it as a social policy that would encourage the development of a free labour market without going so far as Malthus by abolishing the Poor Laws altogether

Question 23

What were the reforms designed to deal with according to Briggs?

Answer 23

Agricultural rather than industrial pauperism

Question 24

How does Briggs highlight the bipartisan support enjoyed by the reform?

Answer 24

He says that it was approved by Peel as much as Melbourne