SOCIOLOGY

How effective was the New Poor Law of 1834 in dealing with poverty?

How effective was the New Poor Law of 1834 in dealing with poverty?

Introduction

The New Poor Law of 1834 was named as such since it was in reference to 1601's Poor Law, and it completely supplanted its predecessor, and was aimed at reforming the system of poverty relief in Britain. With the exception of Scotland (which had its own version of the law passed in 1845), the New Poor Law was passed for the rest of the country. It was initially known as the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, and abbreviated as PLAA; Lord Melbourne's Whig administration got it passed and made an act of the British parliament. The primary aim of this amendment was to alleviate poverty, and it was basically founded on the doctrines of Thomas Robert Malthus, David Ricardo and Jeremy Bentham (Spicker, 2008).

Malthus was of the opinion that if remained unchecked, population tended to spiral out of control and it grew at a more rapid pace as compared to the resources available. Ricardo believed that the other workers were being adversely affected in terms of payment of wages as a result of the poor workers getting aid through the previous Poor Law, and thus he sought amendments to the old Act. In addition, Bentham's concept of utilitarianism was used by Edwin Chadwick, who was actively involved in the commission that was set up to look into the reform of the relief system for the poor (Spicker, 2008).

Chadwick was a social reformer, in addition to being a member of the Royal Commission. He developed serious differences with his superiors, eventually leading to the undoing, in 1847, of the Poor Law Commission (Dunkley, 1990).

Only when wages in a free-market arrangement achieved their real levels, could the maximum number of people be benefitted, according to Bentham. However, the intervention of the state increased manifold through the New Poor Law of 1834 (Poynter, 1960).

Discussion

Background of the New Poor Law

The Royal Commission, which was set up to come up with recommendations to upgrade the Old Poor Law, came up with some radical suggestions, such as separate spikes for different paupers, amalgamation of parishes into unions, abolition of outdoor relief and providence of relief in workhouses only. Moreover, the commission called for the setting up of a central body to enforce the recommendations and check for any variance in practice, as happened during the Old Poor Law.

The abolition of outdoor relief in particular was a radical measure proposed by the commission, since it was meant to deter the physically fit paupers from claiming relief, and overburdening the economy. The conditions within the spikes were to be made so harsh that only the poorest of the poor would enter to claim relief.

The basic problem with the Old Poor Law was that too many poor people were claiming money through poverty relief, even though a large number of them were physically fit and able-bodied to perform ...