Poverty

• The poor


  (in Elizabethan England) people who spent 80% of their income on bread
• Poverty in Elizabethan England did not increase because of one reason, it was a combination of factors
• Increase in demand for wool leading to increase in vagrancy


  1. Population increased the demand for wool

  2. There was an increase in sheep farming

  3. Less labour was needed to farm sheep

  4. Wages fell

  5. Rural unemployment rose

  6. Rural depopulation as people went in search for work

  7. There was an increase in vagrancy
• Types of poor in Elizabethan England

  • Idle/able bodied (undeserving poor) - physically able to work but often chose not to
  • Impotent (deserving poor) - people unable to work due to age, disability or other infirmity
  • Vagrants/vagabond - someone without a home who wandered the country begging
• Poverty was mostly considered to be your own fault in Elizabethan times, but attitudes started to change towards the end of Elizabeth's reign and the government decided to take action
• Acts of Parliament


  • 1563 Statute of Artificers
  • 1572 Vagabonds Act
  • 1576 Poor Relief Act
• 1563 Statute of Artificers


  • Established national poor rate for the first time
  • Towns and cities had to find work for the able-bodied poor
• 1572 Vagabonds Act


  • Set increasingly harsh punishments for those found guilty of vagrancy – the third time led to the death penalty
• 1576 Poor Relief Act


  • JPs were to keep a register of the poor
  • Anyone who refused to pay poor rates could be imprisoned
  • Those who refused to work were sent to a house of correction