The Act for the relief of the Poor, 1601 or the Elizabethan Poor law was an Act of Parliament of England. It is prevalently also known as the ‘Old Poor Law’ and was approved in 1601 that formed a national poor law system for countries of Great Britain; England and Wales. During the 16th century, England was going through a bad phase of stern economic depression with large unemployment, rapid price inflation and food crisis. These deteriorating conditions led to the increase of miserable poor and worsening of vagrancy in the Elizabethan society. Therefore, in response as a relief to the increasing number of poor, a number of laws were introduced by the English Parliament that culminated in 1601 Poor Law.
Queen Elizabeth proclaimed the Old Poor …show more content…
The common law structure of Elizabethan poor relief system bounded people in the mutuality of obligations, rights and duties, both monetary and authorized. The substantiation of this is staggering as it is still found in large number of cases in law reports, in statutes, in legal texts and in justice’s manuals that deal with the aspects of poor law (Clarke). For the relief of the poor, the legacy of Elizabethan poor law still ensures that the wellbeing and welfare is embedded within the society, but in the modern era, there has been a noticeable shift in treatment of poor people. The reasons behind this shift are; reduced poverty, changes in the benefits system, and some strict policies regarding welfare system. The influence of the poor laws has been greatly reduced since the time of liberal government as many other provisions for unemployment benefits, health insurances, and pension policies have been adopted. To avoid the stigma associated with pauperism, the liberal government had deliberately altered many services related to poor (Torjman, 1996). Though the modern welfare state inherited many physical resources from the old poor law but completely different principles have been established responding to …show more content…
In Canada, caring and relief of the poor has traditionally been the responsibility of either community or the Church and it has been traced from the Elizabethan Poor Law. Though some Canadian regions rejected this law and relied on voluntary agencies like hospital boards to care for the sick, aid societies, fraternal orders, but many of the Canadian regions such as Maritimes, Alberta etc. followed the Act of the Relief of Poor which gave the responsibility to local supervisors for the wellbeing of the destitute (Old Age and Poverty, 2010). The deserving poor such as the old, ill, lame, widows etc. who were not expected to work received kindness whereas undeserving poor (referred to as employable) who were expected to work experienced hostility. In Alberta province, the gap between the poverty and wealth continued to increase and the cost of meeting the requirements was too much for many Albertans. Thus, to eradicate homelessness and poverty, many policies and themes were adopted from Elizabethan poor laws that helped to reduce pauperism to a greater
Queen Elizabeth proclaimed the Old Poor …show more content…
The common law structure of Elizabethan poor relief system bounded people in the mutuality of obligations, rights and duties, both monetary and authorized. The substantiation of this is staggering as it is still found in large number of cases in law reports, in statutes, in legal texts and in justice’s manuals that deal with the aspects of poor law (Clarke). For the relief of the poor, the legacy of Elizabethan poor law still ensures that the wellbeing and welfare is embedded within the society, but in the modern era, there has been a noticeable shift in treatment of poor people. The reasons behind this shift are; reduced poverty, changes in the benefits system, and some strict policies regarding welfare system. The influence of the poor laws has been greatly reduced since the time of liberal government as many other provisions for unemployment benefits, health insurances, and pension policies have been adopted. To avoid the stigma associated with pauperism, the liberal government had deliberately altered many services related to poor (Torjman, 1996). Though the modern welfare state inherited many physical resources from the old poor law but completely different principles have been established responding to …show more content…
In Canada, caring and relief of the poor has traditionally been the responsibility of either community or the Church and it has been traced from the Elizabethan Poor Law. Though some Canadian regions rejected this law and relied on voluntary agencies like hospital boards to care for the sick, aid societies, fraternal orders, but many of the Canadian regions such as Maritimes, Alberta etc. followed the Act of the Relief of Poor which gave the responsibility to local supervisors for the wellbeing of the destitute (Old Age and Poverty, 2010). The deserving poor such as the old, ill, lame, widows etc. who were not expected to work received kindness whereas undeserving poor (referred to as employable) who were expected to work experienced hostility. In Alberta province, the gap between the poverty and wealth continued to increase and the cost of meeting the requirements was too much for many Albertans. Thus, to eradicate homelessness and poverty, many policies and themes were adopted from Elizabethan poor laws that helped to reduce pauperism to a greater