Poverty and Pauperism Flashcards
Define poverty
The state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support; condition of being poor
Define pauperism
General term for being poor, but also means anyone in receipt of poor relief
When was Elizabethan Poor Law in place?
1601
How many parishes in England and Wales under the Elizabethan poor law?
15 000
How many poor houses by 1776, with how many inmates in each?
2000 poorhouses
20-50 inmates in each
When was the Law of Settlement? What did it do?
1662
When was the Law of Settlement? What did it do?
1662
Aimed to stop the poor moving around. Had to have a ‘certificate of good character’ to move
When was the Knatchbull’s Act? What did it do?
1722
Encouraged the building of workhouses and withdrawing of relief from those who refused to join them - deterred claiming relief
When was Gilbert’s Act? What did it do?
1782
Allowed parishes to group together to build workhouses -aimed to make the workhouse a refuge for the old and infirm rather than the undeserving
What and when was the Speenhamland system?
1795
Allowance system set up to subsidise low wages - would depend on the price of bread and the number of children a labourer had - in response to economic downturn from war with France
How many loaves of bread were used to top up wages under the Speenhamland system? How many if the worker had a family?
3 loaves
4.5 if a family
When was the Speenhamland system abolished?
1834
What did Thomas Malthus say about the Speenhamland system?
“increased population without increasing food for its support”
What 2 acts formalised the system of poor rates, whereby taxes were collected and distributed Poor Relief under the Justice of Peace?
1818 Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries
1819 Act to Amend the Laws for Relief of the Poor
What were the general feelings towards the poor in society?
Some believed there would always be poverty and it had to be accepted, whilst others blamed the poor for their own poverty due to a weakness in character. Developed deserving and undeserving poor. Culture of dependence was seen as a social evil as it increased laziness and needed to be tackled
What Act was introduced and when, to make public money available to employ able-bodied paupers in public works?
Poor Employment Act
1817
% of GNP spent on poor relief expenditure between 1815-33? What did this amount to each year?
2%
£5.7 million per year
Whose wage theory became popular amongst the middle calss?
Ricardo’s wage fund- suggested there was a fixed fund at any given time for wages
How much did the cost of poor relief decrease by from 1819-23 to 1824?
From 11s 7d to 9s 2d
What could the poor not pay funds into?
Private pensions
% of people who received poor relief in the North and South between 1802-03?
10% in the North
23% in the South
Which 2 individuals greatly supported the idea of individualism?
Physician and vicar of Pewsey Joseph Townsend and Thomas Malthus
What does individualism believe in?
For the general improvement of society, there was a need for a number within the population to feel the hardship that poverty brought
What policy did Townsend criticise in what?
Policy of poor relief in his 1786 Dissertation on the Poor Laws
Why did the idea of individualism grow in popularity?
As industrialisation continued the opportunities for employment expanded and these opening solidified the notion that pauperism was the result of laziness and a general desire among some to live off the generosity of others, rather than take advantage of the chances of work
Which 2 individuals supported the idea of collectivism?
Thomas Paine and Robert Owen
What policy on Welfare did Paine outline in his book the ‘Rights of Man’?
-Pension provision for those over the age of 50
-Child benefits in the form of £4 per year for each child under 14, for 250,000 destitute families
How did Paine and Owen differ slightly in their argument?
Paine felt that it was not the fault of the people themselves but rather the failure of government to support them adequately
Owen promoted the idea that people would help themselves if given the chance. His belief was that character was built through a person’s circumstances, no placing sole responsibility on government
Who set a model community in Saltaire and when, in response to the idea of collectivism?
Sit Titus Salt
1848
Who supported the view of utilitarianism?
Jeremy Bentham and Edwin Chadwick
What does utilitarianism believe in?
Belief that human nature was motivated by only two things: pleasure and pain
What did Bentham introduce to measure solutions to the needs of the poor? When?
Happiness Principle in 1789
What did Bentham propose the establishment of, which would be entrusted with the responsibility of the country’s’ poor? When?
National Charity Company
1796
What did the National Charity Company idea offer for workhouses in 1834?
-Offered a clear blueprint for the reform of the poorhouses
-Inmates would be put to work to pay for their maintenance and also provide a profit for the company shareholders - idea that on leaving they would want to improve themselves
When was the Royal Commission established?
1st February 1832
How many commissioners on the Royal Commission? Which 2 notable individuals were part of it?
9 commissioners
Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadwick
Aim of the Royal Commission?
Find information about the workings of the Poor Law and recommendations about its improvements
How many parishes were sent questionnaires by the Royal Commission? How many were actually returned?
15 000
10% returned
Why did people criticise the methods of the RC?
-Questions phrased awkwardly
-Claimed Senior began writing up the report before the data was collected
Why did the government support the RC?
-Stated the current Poor Laws were inadequate in its provision
-Caused excessive costs due to a lack of a national system
-Many took advantage of the existing system
