The Poor Laws And The Problems Of The Old Poor Law

Social policies are defined as actions taken by governing bodies such as schools or welfare systems that create action in society and cause implications for its members, they’re

There was a great willingness to keep the poor in one place and so by

Social policies often are based on the government’s philosophies and ideologies. In 19th century, Britain had the Laissez-faire approach which led the economic life. This meant that there was not government’s interference.

The basic principles of the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 were “local investigation and administration of relief, work as a component of all assistance, and categorization of the poor into three groups: the able-bodied poor, the impotent poor, and dependent children” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 104). Basically, creating a welfare system to help assist the poor, implementing programs to get people working, and categorizing the poor as worthy or unworthy poor. Examples of this in the present social welfare system are TANF, unemployment insurance, Social Security, SSI, and SDI. Within the TANF and unemployment program, there is a job search requirement to encourage people to find work. Also, much like the Elizabethan Poor Laws, people are categorized to receive specific benefits based on whether they can work or not, like SSI, which is for people who are currently unable to work because of old age or disability.

Between 1450 and 1700, attitudes toward the European poor changed dynamically, roughly following a three-part cycle. In the late 1400's, the poor were regarded with sympathy and compassion; generous aid from both public and religious institutions was common. By the 16th Century, however, the poor were treated with suspicion and harsh measures, to ensure that they were not becoming lazy, using welfare as a substitute for labor. Beginning in the 17th Century, the attitudes toward the poor again shifted, returning to more sympathetic views and responses, though many members of the upper-class still retained the negative outlook on the destitute of the 16th Century.

Over the last century health and social care has changed and developed immensely with the implementation of the NHS and becoming a welfare state. Prior to this health care was only available to a minority of people, those who could afford it. In 1815 the old poor law was passed, it stated that each parish must look after its own poor and those who could not work were provided enough money to help them survive. By 1830 the poor law cost around £7 million, which came from taxing the middle and upper class, causing a sense of resentment towards lower class, unemployed people. In 1834 the new poor law was passed, its aim was to reduce the cost of looking after the poor. Workhouses helped with this, they provided clothes, food and healthcare in return for manual labour. Despite

First, she encouraged the blend of protestant and Catholic beliefs throughout her rule.The Anglican was established during 1559 under her lead; it accepted some of the Catholic traditions along with the Protestant Reforms. This conformed to the standards of the Elizabethan society by considering compromises, strengthening England’s power, and developing a sense of unity between Protestants and Catholic (Beck, Black, Krieger, Naylor, and Shabaka 60). In addition, Queen Elizabeth created the Poor Laws throughout 1563-1601, which were a series of laws that established a tax that would benefit the poor by decreasing poverty ( Briscoe, Alexandra “Poverty in the Elizabethan Era”). Furthermore, establishing the Poor Laws was a change that conformed to the expectations of society because Queen Elizabeth took the needs of people into account which resulted in England’s social and economic growth during the

The Poor Law act 1601 was introduced and classified the poor into three groups, setting policies for each, the impotent poor, able bodied poor and persistent idler. It viewed poverty as the fault of the person, not their situation. Following industrialisation and a decrease in agricultural jobs, workers moved to factories working for low pay and in appalling conditions, but those needing employment outweighed the availability of such.

SociologyPoverty is an issue that many social workers are likely to address and tackle throughout practice. Cunningham & Cunningham, (2008) state that 'Social work service users are amongst the most impoverished people in Britain and for many, poverty defines their lives'. (p32) Poverty can result from a number of factors that include political, social and economic dynamics. This assignment shall be based on two sociological theories of poverty. The Individualistic theory; which blames the responsibility of being poor with the individuals themselves, and the Marxist theory which views poverty as a social problem that has been produced and reproduced by structural forces in society. This assignment shall explain why it is important for

For centuries, nations, cities, and individual families have dealt with the problem of poverty; how to remedy current situations and how to prevent future ones. For most of history, there have been no government controlled poverty assistance programs. The poor simply relied on the goodness of their families or, if they did not have a family, on the generosity of the public at large. In the United States, this situation changed in 1935 with the passage of the Social Security Act. The Social Security Act has seen many successes, but it also faces many critiques of its structure and function. In the past, most governments did little to actively aid their poor population. This duty was

Social Policy is the study of social services and the welfare state. In general terms, it looks at the idea of social welfare, and its relationship to politics and society.

Social policies the fundamental principles in which a society is based. Created to tackle poverty, protect society addressing issues such as social welfare, justice and individual wellbeing. By 1834 the government were under fierce criticism due to rising and mounting costs of looking after the poor, it became clear a change was needed to fix problems in society. The government brought in an amendment act titled the Poor Law (1834) which was designed to reduce the cost of looking after the poor, passed by parliament this new law meant anyone seeking relief from poverty had to now enter a workhouse (BBC-Bitesize, 2017). In the early 1800's the population was rapidly rising, an industrial revolution, the development of towns and the first experience of modern unemployment caused problems within British society (Spicker, 2017). There was suspicion from middle and upper-class taxpayers that their money encouraged the poor to be lazy and avoid work, Squandering money on alcohol and tobacco. In addition, this encouraged the poor to have more children in which they could not afford to support causing resentment and dividing society (Murray, 2013).

One of the main motivating factors behind this desire towards a welfare state was the universal hatred of the so called "Poor laws." These were a series of laws governing aid (feeding, education, and health) to the poorest of society. The first passed in 1598 and not until 1948 did the last one of them get eliminated. The basic idea behind these laws

Social policy refers to the policies used by government for welfare and social protection (Spicker, P.) that are usually made by central Government and implemented by local authorities to tackle current social issues such as poverty and racism. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have now devolved and have their own laws and legislations on several issues.

During the early nineteenth century poverty was major issue, the Poor Law passed earlier in the Tudor period put responsibility on local parishes to pay tax to help the poor. However, over the years the financial strain on parishes became too much and in 1834 The Poor Amendment Act was passed. This was to help reduce the cost of looking after the poor and it was to stop the payment of tax unless you had special circumstances. If the poor wanted help they had to go in to workhouses and work, in exchange for clothes, food, free healthcare and a few hours of schooling for children. The poor had no choice but to go in there for help. On one hand The Poor Amendment Act 1834 was good as it gave the poor free food, shelter, healthcare and education for their children. However, the conditions in the work houses were made so awful that people would avoid going in there unless they were really desperate. The diet was bad, families were spilt up and the people in there had to wear uniform.