Poverty and the Poor Laws

Question 1

What did the increase in population result in?

Answer 1

Inflation - as the population increase, there is pressure on resources, particularly food.

Question 2

By how much did prices increase in comparison to wages? What did this result in?

Answer 2

Prices - 800%
Wages - 300%
- This resulted in an increase in poverty

Question 3

There was a growing proportion of the population who were increasingly reliant on…

Answer 3

wage labour.

Question 4

Those who were reliant on wage labour saw a decline in…

Answer 4

living stands.

Question 5

What type of employment did agriculture rely on?

Therefore…

Answer 5

Seasonal employment - therefore many rural labourers could only find employment for six months of the year.

Question 6

With growing population there were more people than there were…

Answer 6

jobs available - as a result poverty increased due to a lack of full-time employment.

Question 7

In the century before 1640 the population grew faster than…

Answer 7

the resources of food.

Question 8

What was the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law?

Answer 8

Established a system which provided basic relief to those unable to work.

Question 9

How was the growth of poverty shown?

Answer 9

In the rise in the poor rate, from £250,000 per year in 1650 to £700,000 per year by the end of the 17th century.

Question 10

How the government attempt to support the poor?

Answer 10

They attempted to regulate the trade in grain, to ensure that in times of harvest failure there were sufficient stocks of grain available at a low price in order to prevent starvation.

Question 11

What did Charles I’s Privy Council issue in response to the harvest failures in 1629 and 1630?

Answer 11

Books of Orders - instructions to JPs about how they should carry out their local government duties. Included advice on how to levy the poor rate and what actions to take when dealing with the poor.

Question 12

In the early 1600s, as a result of a growing population, there was a lot of…

Answer 12

underemployment, as most people still worked in agriculture, which was a seasonal economy; therefore many did not have work through the whole year.

Question 13

Rising unemployment, combined with economic hardship, resulted in an increase in…

Answer 13

homeless beggars who toured the country - vagrants.

Question 14

What age range were most vagrants?

Answer 14

Late teens or early twenties.

Question 15

Vagrants were seen as sources of…

Answer 15

crime and instability and were often rounded up and punished.

Question 16

What happened to some vagrants later on?

Answer 16

They were transported to American colonies.

Question 17

What laws were passed to limit movement?

Answer 17

The 1662 Settlement Law - if a man left his own parish to work elsewhere he had to possess a settlement certificate guaranteeing that his home parish would pay for his return if he needed poor relief.