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Why Was the Poor Law Reformed in 1834?
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Why Was the Poor Law Reformed in 1834? Rachel Boyd The Poor Law was first enacted in 1536 and was the Tudor version of a contemporary social security system. Life was very tough then, with many working class people living on a thin line between poverty and pauperism. It was the first time the government had recognised any kind of social responsibility, opinions as to the role of the government in welfare were changing, expectations to provide for the deserving were arising. Reasons why the government at the time introduced support for the poor are disputed. There was much fear of vagrancy and the social disorder that could entail as a result from this, this was no recent phenomenon, vagrancy laws had been in place since the fourteenth century. Some historians speak of bands of 'sturdy beggars' who were robbing and terrorising the countryside (Hazlett 1973), whereas other feel that these stories...
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