1834 Poor Law Amendment Act

Question 0

Why ?

Answer 0

1832 Royal Commission - the 1834 Report - believed it encouraged pauperism and reduced self help ethic (Right Wing)
Condemned the allowance system and all outdoor relief
Suggested principle of less eligibility and workhouse test
Relief offered must be less than the income of the lowest paid worker - subsistence

Question 1

Aims

Answer 1

To deal with rural idleness of able bodied
Whig government
Cross party support
Intention to discourage outdoor relief
Encourage parish unions
Encourage building of more workhouses
Created the Poor Law Commission

Question 2

What factors led to change ? (1)

Answer 2

Demands on Poor Relief - costs rising - more people claiming
1750 (.7 m p.a)
1785 (2 m.p.a)
1817 (8 m.p.a)

Question 3

What factors led to change (2)

Answer 3

Abolitionists
Thomas Malthus (1766)
David Ricardo (1772)

Question 4

What factors led to change (3)

Answer 4

Utilitarianism - Jeremy Bentham b.1748

Question 5

What factors led to change (4)

Answer 5

Victorian values:
Self help.
Thrift (careful with money)
Work.
Respectability.

Question 6

What factors led to change (5)

Answer 6

Local reformers policies -

Deterrent workhouse - “I wish to see the Poor a House looked on in dread by our labouring class …..”

Focused on increasing poor relief and -
Reducing outdoor relief

Question 14

What factors led to change (6)

Answer 14

Reports and publications -
Essay on the principle of population - Malthus
Principles of political economy - Ricardo
1832 Royal Commission
1835 Poor Law Report