Today it is impossible to separate discussion of poverty from the priorities of state welfare. A hundred years ago most working-class households avoided or coped with poverty without recourse to the state. The Poor Law after 1834 offered little more than a safety net for the poorest, and much welfare was organized through charitable societies, self-help institutions and mutual-aid networks. Rather than look for the origins of modern provision, the author of this book casts a searching light on the practices, ideology and ...
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Today it is impossible to separate discussion of poverty from the priorities of state welfare. A hundred years ago most working-class households avoided or coped with poverty without recourse to the state. The Poor Law after 1834 offered little more than a safety net for the poorest, and much welfare was organized through charitable societies, self-help institutions and mutual-aid networks. Rather than look for the origins of modern provision, the author of this book casts a searching light on the practices, ideology and outcomes of nineteenth-century welfare. This original and stimulating study, based upon a wealth of scholarship, is essential reading for all who are interested in the history of British society.
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