THE 'PROBLEM' OF THE POOR

• POOR

  • 'Deserving' - people who could not work because of their health or age. People acted positively towards them as they felt sorry for them
  • 'Idle' - People who were capable of working but were not working because they could not find a job. People acted negatively towards them. They saw them as idle
  • 80% of income on food was poor(Historians)
  • A survey in Norwich in 1570 showed
  • Up to 40% of those in poverty were under 16
  • Households led by women were mostly poor
  •   Roughly 25% were 60+
  • Poor relief was the responsibility of JPs
  • The Church provided charity in the form of alms
• INCREASE IN POVERTY

  INCREASING POPULATION:

  • The population in England increased by 35%
  • London had a population of 150,000 people
  • This was ten times the size of Norwich, England's second-largest city
  • A growing urban population caused an increase in poverty 
  • Food was grown in the countryside and sold in towns and cities
  • If too many people lived in towns and cities, there would not be enough people to grow the crops needed to feed the population
  • An increase in demand caused food prices to rise
  • Poorer people in Elizabethan towns and cities could not afford the price of bread
• • England relied on its cloth trade
  • There was high demand for English wool across Europe 
  • Many farmers swapped from crop farming to sheep farming
  • Farmers could earn higher profits on sheep farming
  • Sheep farming required fewer workers, which reduced the costs of wages, increased unemployment
  • Sheep farming increased poverty because:
  • Successful sheep farming needed large amounts of land. This took away common land which reduced people's ability to grow food for their families
  • The sheep ate crops, which could have been used to feed those who could not afford bread. Angered villagers
• ENCLOSURE

  • Enclosure during Elizabethan times meant fencing off shared land (common land) and turning it into private property
  • Landowners increased rents for profitable land
  • Smaller farmers could not afford high rents, and were forced to leave
  • People lost their ancient rights to use the land, for eg collecting wood.
  • Increasing population
  • The country needed more crops
  • The countryside became angry at yeomen and larger landowners. The villagers saw them as greedy by taking common land for their sheep
  • Enclosure meant there was a lower demand for workers, which increased unemployment.
• THREAT OF VAGABONDAGE

  • Vagabonds lived outside of the hierarchy
  • They did not settle in one place
  • They often stole or committed other crimes(did not live by the laws) 
  • ISSUES IN COUNTRYSIDE
  • Many rural workers moved to the towns and cities in order to find work
  • Towns and cities suffered from unemployment
  • If rural workers cannot find work, they turn to begging and vagabondage
  • The poor built makeshift houses outside of the city walls
  • Within these areas, there were high levels of crime
  • Local officials did not know what to do about vagrants
  • Unemployment was seen as a real problem.
• POOR LAWS

  • STATUTE OF ARTIFICERS, 1563
  • AIM: To ensure all Elizabethans contributed to poor relief
  • POSITIVE: It made local officials and society accountable for providing poor relief. People who refused to pay poor relief faced imprisonment. Justices of the Peace who did not collect poor relief were fined £20
  • NEGATIVE: The rising prices of goods in England affected all areas of society. Some people could not afford to contribute towards poor relief
• POOR LAWS

  VAGABONDS ACT, 1572

  • AIMS: To reduce the levels of vagrancy in towns and cities
  • POSITIVES: It created a national system to monitor and help the poor. Each area of England had to pay the same poor rate. Justices of the Peace kept a register of who was poor. Finding work for the unemployed was the responsibility of local officials
  • NEGATIVES: Punishments for vagrants increased. Physical punishments included drilling holes in vagabonds' ears. If arrested three times, vagrants faced the death penalty
• POOR LAWS

  POOR RELIEF ACT, 1576

  • AIMS: To determine the genuine poor that needed help from those who did not want or accept government poor relief
  • POSITIVES: The Poor Relief Act gave practical support for the poor. Justices of the Peace provided the able-bodied poor with raw materials to create goods for sale
  • NEGATIVES: The government punished the poor if they refused to use the government's materials. The poor rate paid for the building of special prisons called houses of correction.
• IMPACT OF POOR LAWS

  • POSITIVE: Change in attitudes. 10% of vagrants received the punishment of whipping. Most parishes gave vagrants money if they promised to leave the town. The Poor Relief Act provided the unemployed with a way to work out of poverty with independence and pride.
  • NEGATIVE: Vagrants still scared people in society. The Poor Laws could not control external factors which caused poverty in England. Poverty remained high due to England's conflict with Spain. For eg, English merchants used the Netherlands as a base to sell cloth across Europe.