causes of poverty Flashcards
increasing population over 16th century (high)
1525- 2.26 million people in england
1591- 3.89 million people
steady growth in population apart from 1550s because of flu epidemic and bad harvests. the population increased beyond the level that could be supported by agriculture.
rising unemployment (high)
there were more available workers than there were jobs so unemployment rose and the poverty of the unemployed was even worse than those on low wages. the rise in unemployment meant there was also a rise in vagrancy and begging.
rising prices and cost of living (high)
as the population grew, there was more pressure on resources, especially food. the demand for food grew and if demand grows, but supply says the same the price of the food goes up. with primitive agriculture, it was difficult to increase the amount of food produced so merchants and farmers charged more for the food produced.
falling wages (high)
the rising population meant more and more young people were coming into working age so there was more competition for jobs. this meant employers didn’t have to raise their wages to attract workers so wages fell and didn’t keep pace with inflation. the rise of the cost-of-living hit those on lower wages the hardest (unskilled workers/labourers)
poor harvests (medium)
harvests were affected by bad weather and this reduced the amount of crops produced. when bad harvest occurs there were food shortages and prices were sharply. it wasn’t just grain prices that rose but also prices of butter, cheese and eggs. it was worse when there were successive years of bad harvest which happened between 1549 to 1551, 1554 to 1556, 1586 to 1587.
dissolution of monasteries (medium)
monasteries were a traditional source of support and charity for poor and they also provided local employment by the 1540s they were dissolved. monasteries influence had only been localised and local parish charity did often step in to replace what was lost.
issues to do with the coinage (medium)
the debasement of the coinage by the government occurred between 1542 and 1551. when the government debased the coinage they would meltdown coins which had higher levels of precious-metals and would then re-coin them but each coin would have less precious metal in it. people knew that the new coins had less precious metal in them and that they were worth less so they would demand more coins to the same product.
exploitative and greedy landlords (low)
the actions of greedy landlords was causing poverty. commoners had a very limited understanding of economics and understood things in moral terms which is why they blaming enclosure and rack renting by greedy landlords. they believed that landlords were raising rent to try and force them off the land and believed that they were withholding crops to try and raise their prices.
lazy (low)
tudor attitudes towards poverty was that people were lazy and couldn’t be bothered to find jobs however people weren’t lazy there just weren’t enough jobs available.
