Changing Attitudes Toward the Poor in Britain

Changing Attitudes Toward the Poor in Britain

Paternalism underpinned the Old Poor Law, the perception that those in

power should take responsibility for their workers. The Old Poor Law

provided 'out-relief' for those in poverty as an addition to their

weekly wage. By 1832, however, the industrial revolution had begun and

capitalism was the leading system. A new approach of 'self-help'

marked the demise of paternalism. This new attitude was the belief

that poverty was the fault of the poor. The government's role was to

uphold sovereignty and win foreign wars, with very little intervention

in domestic social issues.

The 1834 Poor Law Report was an investigation into the failings of the

Old Poor Law. It began with the ratepayers growing discomfort at

paying the rising poor rates during the Napoleonic wars. The Poor Law

Commission was provoked by the upward trend of relief and rural

unrest; the 'Swing' riots of 1830.

Its investigation was premeditated with beliefs, however, they did

come to realise that the Old Poor Law was a system which was outdated

for a country in the middle of an Industrial revolution. The new

legislation wanted to put an end to out-relief and established

'workhouses' throughout Great Britain.

The attitude following this was that the position of pauper could be

an 'eligible' one especially when honest work was so difficult and

parish hand-outs were ample. Source 1 is a prime example of this, a

quote from Samuel Smiles Self-Help 1859. Samuel Smiles believed that

growth as a nation had to start from within and that any external help

(friendly-societies, charity organisation) was 'enfeebling in its

effe...

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...government did to try

and deal with the issues of poverty. The government carried out a

policy, after much debate from leading economists, of retrenchment

rather than spending their way out of depression. This was a time of

national government, when the workhouse was extinct and the New Poor

Law was defunct with it. During the great depression the motives of

the government were influenced by fear of disorder and revolution in

the classes. The state was now responsible and their stance was not

just about accepting knowledge, it was about working class men getting

the vote; their most important asset. They were limited by their

unwillingness to expend the nation's money. They were looking for a

viable solution at an affordable cost, and in the end this meant the

cutting of the dole and the introduction of the means test.