Thinking the Twentieth Century: Intellectuals and Politics in the Twentieth Century

by Tony Judt

The Poor Law of 1834 mandated work. To get relief, you had to go to the local workhouse, and work for a wage lower than that available on the open job market. The intention was to discourage people from taking advantage of poverty relief, and also to make very clear that there was something unworthy about being reduced to this condition. The Poor Law thus distinguished between the so-called deserving and undeserving poor, thereby creating moral categories that did not correspond to economic reality. And indeed it forced people into poverty, since they first had to exhaust their own resources before becoming eligible for public or local assistance. It thus exacerbated the very problem that it was ostensibly intended to treat. From very early on the new Poor Law was regarded as a blot on the face of English society. It stigmatized those whom capitalism had temporarily put out of commission through no fault of their own.