Was the rising cost of the poor rate in the years 1815-1833 the main reason for the reform of the old poor laws in 1834/growth in industrial towns

Question 1

Criteria

Answer 1

Rising cost most important because it heavily influenced the upper and middle Classes due to the burden that would be put on them through taxes etc. also led to changing ideological pressures which made people question how effective the system was, and whether it should be changed to combat rising costs. Failures came about from the fact that they were unprepared to increase the rising cost further

Question 2

factor 1-rising cost

Answer 2

Facts

• Napoleon blockading ports between 1806-1812 strangled trade
• Corn laws in 1815 increased the price of food combined with a number of poor harvests
• Poor relief reached 2% of GDP between 1815-1833, equalling £7.5million
• Exponential growth exacerbated the problem due to more reliance on the system; 1801 the population was at 9 million, officially double the size of when the poor law was introduced in 1601
• higher relief for people with more kids encouraged such growth (speenhamland)

The basis of the system was to blame for its rising cost, and as industrialisation took place, the cost was only going to rise. A 1601 law clearly not applicable in the 1800s

Question 3

Factor 2- failures of the poor law

Answer 3

Facts- whilst it helped old and sick, other vulnerable ares of society were accommodated for

• soldiers returning from war with France became unemployed and those in industries dependent on war eg manufacturing and weapons saw a fall in demand for their labour
• 2000 poor houses housing 20-50 people provided for the poor and sick (deserving poor)
• no initiative to work hard, instead faced with poor conditions and minimal pay
• no training to help them better themselves and find a better job
• deserving v undeserving very unfair and subjective, no universal standard across the country

The failure of the system led to its reform due to its inability to accommodate for people who were just as deserving of relief ie people made unemployed by war but received no such benefit. To accommodate these people would mean raising the costs further which parliament was unwilling to do

Question 4

Factor 3- ideological pressures

Answer 4

Facts-collectivism suggested by Robert Owen influenced other middle class men to put pressure on parliament to reform the poor laws as he realised the importance of motivation and productivity

• individualism advertised by upper classes and taken on by the whigs (in a strong political position to do so)
• individualists argued the current system was making the ‘underserving’ too reliant and encouraging laziness
• felt it was taking money away from the hard working as taxes and given to the poor, so reforming the law became more appealing to upper class

These ideological pressures advertised by Owen and the whigs influenced the attitudes towards poverty by the upper and middle classes. Lots of their motivation centred around reducing the cost of the poor law however, showing it to still be massively important

Question 5

factor 4- attitudes to poverty

Answer 5

Facts

• many people in society didn’t have a problem with poverty because they saw it as a motivation to avoid poverty
• fear of destitution among upper classes made people strive to work harder
• increased wealth inequality because richer people worked harder to avoid poverty whilst those gaining indoor relief became increasingly worse off as they lacked the motivation to get better jobs and work harder
• upper class people also concerned with the rising cost of the poor relief as the burden would be placed on them as taxes

Question 6

Growth of industrial towns

Answer 6

Facts-

• Towns were becoming the most prominent area for poverty due to their low wages and overpopulation
• 1662 laws of settlement meant poverty was more rife in more populated towns because it prevented people in poverty from moving areas ie to rural areas
• Elizabethan poor law was created in 1601 and the population was more than double since then
• between 1802 and 1803, 10% of people in the north received poor relief compared to 23% in the south, showing it wasn’t well equipped to deal with the new industrial towns in the north
• urban areas had wages over no more than 12 shillings a week in many places

explanation
the current system from 200 years ago clearly wasn’t applicable in the current demographic of the country and so may explain the changing attitudes of the government as it also led to the rising cost