how did attitudes toward 'the poor' change?

• At the start of the industrial revolution attitudes towards the poor weren't very sympathetic
• They thought the poor needed to be encouraged to work harder and solve their own problems
• Assistance for the poor was deliberately unpleasant
• Workhouses


  1. Forced the most desperate to complete hard work

  2. In return for a little food and strict accommodation
• Campaigners like Charles Dickens and Charles Booth and scandals (eg Andover workhouse) slowly changed attitudes
• By the end of 19th cent people were more sympathetic
• Charities


  • Barnardo's
• Charities had been started to help poor children
• Councils started to tear down slums and built council houses (eg Boundary Estate)