Pre-1834 PLAA

SPEENHAMLAND SYSTEM:

• introduced in 1795 by Speenhamland in Berkshire
• it was a way of providing relief by subsidising wages
• it established a connection between number of dependents in a family and the price of bread
• many parishes accepted it
• parishes did not always give relief in the form of money, some gave flour to families while others considered each child
• never used in the north
• often abandoned or modified

LABOUR RATE:

• a different way of providing relief
• overseers managed a parish rate to cover the poor and set a wage for each unemployed labourer
• ratepayers could either choose to employ labourers at the set wage or pay the parish rate
• although uncertain if it was popular, by 1832, at least 1 in 5 parishes were using a system similar

ROUNDSMAN:

• a slight adaptation of the Labour Rate
• able bodies were employed by ratepayers
• these ratepayers would pay part of their wages while the parish paid the rest

THOMAS MALTHUS:

• was an economist who studided the population
• he argued that the population would soon outstrip food supplies
• thought the Poor Law…