The Poor Law Act

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In this essay i shall outline the main principles upon which the welfare state was established and consider to what extent they have survived until now. I shall discuses from a historical background from the 1834 poor law amendment act. Its journey through time and how things have change or maybe not. The poor law act was amended in 1834. This was largely due to the failure of the old one. Due to the rising costs, this had on the local community parishes. It was thought that the government should intervene and help the poor. The parishes were opposed to this as they believed in the concept of Lassez-Fare. Due to the implantation of the new act this seen the abolishment of the out door relief. This led on to the interdiction of the workhouses. This was to give the poor some form of relief. However there were also conations attached to this. The poor would only enter these if they were absolutely destitute the conditions were so harsh. So in fact the workhouses were used as a derarent in order for the poor to become self reliant. Historically during the 18th and 19th century the most powerful and influential political ideology was economic liberalism. This encouraged individualism and free trade. It discouraged governments from spending public money on welfare services. The liberal reforms brought about much needed change within the welfare state. Such as in the late 19th century the workhouse conditions were made more humane. This was the beginning of the various areas of social welfare provision such as public health, housing and education. The inter war years had an impact on the liberal reforms as the government promised to provide for the British people as this was used as a motive during the war. Due to the large number of male deaths from the Great War it became apparent that the mature women would strengthen and stabilise the political system. This gave
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