Other laws were passed which would deal with the poor. The first law was the Act of Settlement 1662. This stated that people could only be looked after in their own parishes. However, parishes would try to force pregnant women to leave their parish and would attempt to get them over the border, so that when the baby was born, the parish in which the mother lived in didn’t have the responsibility of looking after the baby and so they would save money. The other law was the Gilberts Act introduced in 1782 and it said that parishes would have the choice of grouping together to create unions and would build better workhouses. The workhouse in Gressenhall was build under this act. It had to look after the poor from Derham and the surrounding area.
This system worked up until about 1800, when there were several major changes that didn’t suit the system, and therefore the problem of poverty became worse and a lot of money was wasted. Among the key changes was the increase in population. Due to its increase there was a greater demand for employment, but there weren’t enough jobs available and so many poor were left unemployed. Enclosure, part of the agricultural revolution caused many labourers to be poor, as unlike before they couldn’t use the commons on which many relied so much, as the commons provided the people with the necessary things, such food a grazing place for their animals and wood. Those who did have a job received low wages, but often it wasn’t enough to get by. Women were unable to work as they had to look after their children and the jobs they used to do and earned them money were now taken over by industry. In many factories workers were only there when they were needed but sent away when there was no work. This would leave workers unemployed for a long time and as a result of that they would get into debt.
Around the country different schemes were tried to solve this problem. The Speenhamland system was one local attempt, which was used first in Speenhamland, located in Berkshire. This system allowed the poor to get a payment, as they need a certain amount to survive. Each member was given money and if they didn’t earn this in wages the parish would give them the rest. If a man got 15p, his wife and children would get half of that amount. When bread price increased then the allowance would rise as well. If people didn’t work at all they were given the whole sum of money by the parish.
Another was the Roundsmen system, which made unemployed labourers go round the farmers asking for work before they could receive poor relief.
Labour rate was a one more local system, which mean farmers could either choose to pay a rate or employ a labourer. When he paid the labourer below the proper wage, the amount was made up out of the poor rates. About 20% of parishes used this system.
A lot of poor relief was provided in the workhouses, which were under satisfactory conditions before the 1834 Amendment Act and the poor were allowed to enter and leave the workhouse at anytime. They were also given a job, for which they were paid.
However these systems didn’t seem to improve the situations, because more poor entered the workhouses so many they became full and as there were a lot of people working it became more expensive to pay them and also to provide for them, such as food. The original intention of the workhouse being the last option was now changing as people went into workhouses whenever they needed to and would leave and enter at anytime. The outdoor relief system was also becoming expensive, as the rate would increase continually as more people didn’t work. Many believed that the Speenhamland system encouraged families to expand their size because more children meant that they would receive more money. Many believed that it also encouraged illegitimacy. This affected the overall population in a way that it grew too fast. It also encouraged low wages and laziness because workers would not feel the need to work as they were given enough and if not enough money anyway. For these reason a commission of enquiry was carried out in 1832 to find out about how the poor laws were working.
