English Poor Laws

The English Poor Laws^[2] were a system of poor relief in England and Wales^[3] that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s.^[1]

English Poor Law legislation can be traced back as far as 1536,^[4] when legislation was passed to deal with the impotent poor, although there were much earlier Plantagenet laws dealing with the problems caused by vagrants and beggars.^[2] The history of the Poor Law in England and Wales is usually divided between two statutes: the Old Poor Law passed during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603)^[5] and the New Poor Law, passed in 1834, which significantly modified the system of poor relief. The New Poor Law altered the system from one which was administered haphazardly at a local parish level to a highly centralised system which encouraged the large-scale development of workhouses by poor law unions.^{[6][better source needed]}

The Poor Law system fell into decline at the beginning of the 20th century owing to factors such as the introduction of the Liberal welfare reforms^[7] and the availability of other sources of assistance from friendly societies and trade unions,^[7] as well as piecemeal reforms which bypassed the Poor Law system.^[8] The Poor Law system was not formally abolished until the National Assistance Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 29),^{[citation needed]} with parts of the law remaining on the books until 1967.^[6]