‘the Main Reason as to Why There Were so Many Poor People in the 1600’s Was Because They Were Lazy’….Do I Agree?

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The 1600’s was a period of great hardship for the whole of England. The countries general prices combined with a level degree of wage meant that people became much worse off. Moreover, the idea that in the period of between 1642-1649, Britain was undergoing massive change due to the Civil War. These both attributed to people becoming poorer….or was it just the simple idea that none of this would have affected them so harshly, if they hadn’t of been so lazy? In my opinion they were not affected mainly by laziness, but by the general economic slump at the time. I think this because firstly, at this period in history the population of England was growing at an exponential rate. I know this because there were approximately ‘4 million people in 1600, and it grew to about 5 ½ million by 1700’ (localhistories.org), which therefore shows that the population was increasing. I can therefore infer from this that this made people poorer due to three major ideas. Firstly, as more people were around to do work, it meant that employers could afford to pay workers less, due to the idea that there would always be others to take their place, and also due to the idea that, as more people were trying to get certain jobs, it meant that more people would be counted as unemployed. Secondly, due to the idea that more people were around, it meant that more food would be required. This also meant that, as food would be running short, it meant that food prices became higher, so people had to pay more for food. This in turn meant that families could not provide as much, so many became very poor and needy. This may have also been due to mass inflation at the time: ‘By 1600 food cost on average five times as much as they had in 1500; the cost of living rose by over 35%’. This meant that more people became poor, as they could not afford to buy as much. Thirdly, the idea that, as the population
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