Sociology Essay - The History of Welfare and the Problem of Poverty in England.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Sociology - Welfare

The Poor Law Act was introduced in England in 1601, before this the only basis of a welfare state was through connections between family friends and self-help. This new act meant that parishes were responsible for providing help to the poor. It created a compulsory poor rate and the creation of 'overseers' of relief. Furthermore it created provision for 'setting the poor on work'. This law acknowledged that care of the poor was a community problem and led to the poor being divided into two groups the deserving and undeserving poor.

The 'deserving poor' were people who wanted to work but could not find work through no fault of their own. These people were given help in the form of food and clothes or maybe even money known as outdoor relief. Additionally there were people who were sick, ill and old these people were also given helped and looked after. For example orphans and children of the poor were given to tradesman to help them learn a trade known as indoor relief. This was because they were looked at as blameless for their predicament. (Bloy, 2002)

The deserving poor... "On the whole shall