Poverty And Pauperism Flashcards
How many poorhouses were there by 1776?
2,000 each with 20-50 inmates
What are Absolute and Relative Poverty?
Absolute - The lack of an income to provide even basic human needs
Relative - People who are poor but still have enough to survive
Between 1802-1803 what percentage of The North and The South received poor relief?
North - 10%
South - 23%
What did the 1832 Royal Commission do?
They had 9 commissioners (including Edwin Chadwick) and aimed to gather evidence on how to improve the poor law. They sent out questionnaires to 15,000 parishes, but only 10% returned
What did the 1832 Royal Commission recommend be changed with the poor law?
- The Removal Of Outdoor Relief
- The use of Workhouses as deterrents
- The creation of a central board to control these changes
- Grouping parishes to more effectively manage workhouses
What did the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law do?
Poorhouses were made for the deserving poor. Outdoor relief was provided to the able bodied.
What did the 1782 Gilbert’s Act do?
Allowed parishes to group together to build workhouses
It aimed to make the workhouse a place of refuge not punishment
How long did the Speenhamland System last?
1795-1834
What did the Speenhamland System do?
Subsidised low wages. Allowance depended on the price of bread and number of children.
Wages were topped to the price of 3 loaves of bread (4 1/2 loaves if the worker had a family)
When was the French Revolution and Why did this cause fear in the government?
1789-99, As they feared the middle and working class would rise up together and revolt
When did the Napoleonic War end?
1815
Hoe many soldiers returned home from the Napoleonic war?
Over 400,000
Why did some people avoid Poor Relief?
To take poor relief was seen as social evil and indolent (lazy)
What was Individualism?
They believed that minimum legislations and government intervention was best.
- Thomas Malthus and Joseph Townsend
- Malthus wrote an essay on how population increase will eventually lead to drained resources
What was Collectivism?
Early socialism, the government should take responsible for the poor to offer a collective solution to the problem of poverty.
- Thomas Paine and Robert Owen
- Thomas Paine’s “The Rights Of Man” outlines his radical beliefs such as a pension