Poverty and the Poor Laws

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  • Created on: 20-04-20 18:03
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  • Poverty and the Poor Laws
    • The Growth of Poverty
      • Increased population resulted in inflation.
        • The 'century of inflation' were the years 1540-1640.
        • Population increase put pressure on resources, especially food.
        • Prices rose as much as 800%, but wages only rose by 300%.
          • Thus, there was an incease in the levels of poverty, with growing divisions between the rich and the poor.
            • The people who didn't produce enough food to feed their family, thus not having any to sell, were hit the hardest.
            • The growing percentage of the population who were increasingly reliant on wage labour also saw a decline in their living standards.
              • Agriculture relied on seasonal employment, thus many rural workers could only find employment for 6 months of the year.
                • Additionally, with a growing population there were more workers than jobs available.
                  • Thus, poverty increased as more people struggled to find full-time employment.
    • The Poor Laws
      • 1540-1640, the population grew faster than the resource of food.
        • There were times where so much pressure on the food resources meant that those at the lower end of society faed starvation/ death.
      • The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law created a system which provided basic relief for those unable to work.
        • Although the Law set up the legal framework to tackle poverty, there was no reform to the system until 1834.
        • The growth in poverty was reflected in the rise in the 'poor rate', from £250,000 per year in 1650 to £700,000 per year by 1700.
      • To help the poor, the government attempted to regulate the trade in grain.
        • This was to ensure that if the harvest failed there was enough stock of grain available at a low price to prevent starvation.
        • In responce to harvest failures in 1629 and 1630, Charles I's Privy Council issued new Books of Orders.
          • The Books were instructions to Justices of the Peace about how they should carry out their local government duties.
            • Included advise on how to levy (levy= fee) the 'poor rate' and what actions to take when dealing with the poor.
              • One important task was to enourage young people to take up an apprenticeship.
            • By 1640, 1,400 officers were responsible for organising poor relief in parishes.
    • Beggars and Vagrants
      • In the early 1600's, due to the population rise, there wasnt enough work to go around.
        • Most people still worked in agriculture, which was only seasonal work.
          • Hence, many didn't have work for the whole year, only half.
            • During the off period, there were too many people seeking work that wasn't there.
      • This rising unemployment, combined with economic hardship, resulted in an increase in homeless beggars who toured the country.
        • Most of these people were in their late teens and early twenties.
        • Records say 22% of vagrants passed through Salisbury in the early modern period had already traveled 100 by the time they arrvied.
        • Begging and vagrancy became more of an issue in times of scarce resources.
      • Vagrants were seen as sources of crime and instability.
        • They were often rounded up and punished.
          • Some were later transported to the American colonies.
        • Laws (eg 1662 Settlement Law) were passed to limit movement.
          • If a man left his own parish to work elsewhere he had to possess a settlement certificate guarenteeing that his home parish would pay for his return if he needed poor relief.

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