Pressure to change the Poor Law Amendment Act

PLAA discouraged outdoor relief for able-bodied paupers and the idea of 'less eligibility' meant they were less comfortable than those who chose to stay outside

Entry to the workhouse became a last resort for many people because it was so punishing; basic furnishing with no comforts, 10-hour day, basic diet, depersonalisation - inmates wore the same uniform/men and women separated/deserving and undeserving separated

Workhouses cost £6,200 to build and were sometimes unprofitable

It cost 4s 8d to keep a pauper in an institution but only 2s 3d on outdoor so outdoor should be prefered as it was cheaper to the Rate Payers

In the North, due to cyclic employment, the workhouse would be empty when the economy was good so many gardians resisted building workhouses

Many people thought the new system was excessively severe

In rural areas, farmers wanted to benefit from the short-term employment rather than pay for them in the workhouse

There was no reduction to poverty in the years after the PLAA was introduced

Tories objected:

• Whigs passed it - general sense of partisanship
• Objected to the centralisation through the Poor Law Commision and the grouping of parish's 
• 30 April 1834 - The Times came out against the PLAA
• Fearful of increased government intervention
• Paternalistic sense of morality 
• Ignored the 'poor unfortunates' who had not had the same avantages as the best in society whose duty it was to look after them

Radical politicians objected it:

• William Cobbett
• made claimants seem like criminals
• those in power had little regard for the poorest in society 
• abandoned the un-named but humane arrangement between rich and poor where one would support the other in a time of need

Southern riots:

• 1835 - East Anglia
• May 1835 - Ampthill (4 men arrested) and East Kent
• December 1835 - Bulcamp workhouse attacked by a mob
• But the riots were not well organised, not united and for different systems
• Prompted by the removal of outdoor relief which made people believe the laws were designed to save money rather than help people

Northern riots:

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