To What Extent Did the Liberal Social Reforms Mark a Significant Break with 19th Century Attitudes to Poverty?
To what extent did the Liberal social reforms mark a significant break with 19th century attitudes to poverty?
In 19th century Britain, the upper class and even the Government held a unanimous view of the poor. Their view was that poverty was the result of moral failings and that these people were responsible for their own social circumstance. The social elite stereotyped the poor as drunken and lazy, and therefore undeserving of help or attention. This was reflected in the ‘laissez faire’ approach taken by the Government where they believed that poverty and hardship were not things that they had a responsibility to deal with. However, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century these attitudes began to change to a more accepting and sympathetic view to poverty. This was largely due to the writers Mayhew and Dickens, and the poverty reports made by Booth and Rowntree. The former both brought the issue of poverty to the forefront for the public; Mayhew through the ‘Morning Chronicle’ and ‘London Labour and the London Poor’; Dickens through his novels. Charles Dickens was seen as a voice to represent the poor and in novels such as ‘Our Mutual Friend’ he showed their despair, writing of the poor house: “Kill me sooner than take me there. Throw this child under the cart horses feet and a loaded wagon, sooner than take him there.” This convinced the public of the plight of the poor while the hard facts and figures presented by Booth and Rowntree convinced the Government. So, due to the writings of Mayhew and Dickens, the reports of Booth and Rowntree, worries for national efficiency, the creation of the Labour Party and the work of certain individuals such as Churchill and Lloyd George, the Liberal Government introduced a series of social reforms between 1906 and 1914 which reflected the changing views of the public and those in power. The new reforms dealt with poverty in child hood and old age, and poverty due to illness and low wages.
In 1906 free
In 19th century Britain, the upper class and even the Government held a unanimous view of the poor. Their view was that poverty was the result of moral failings and that these people were responsible for their own social circumstance. The social elite stereotyped the poor as drunken and lazy, and therefore undeserving of help or attention. This was reflected in the ‘laissez faire’ approach taken by the Government where they believed that poverty and hardship were not things that they had a responsibility to deal with. However, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century these attitudes began to change to a more accepting and sympathetic view to poverty. This was largely due to the writers Mayhew and Dickens, and the poverty reports made by Booth and Rowntree. The former both brought the issue of poverty to the forefront for the public; Mayhew through the ‘Morning Chronicle’ and ‘London Labour and the London Poor’; Dickens through his novels. Charles Dickens was seen as a voice to represent the poor and in novels such as ‘Our Mutual Friend’ he showed their despair, writing of the poor house: “Kill me sooner than take me there. Throw this child under the cart horses feet and a loaded wagon, sooner than take him there.” This convinced the public of the plight of the poor while the hard facts and figures presented by Booth and Rowntree convinced the Government. So, due to the writings of Mayhew and Dickens, the reports of Booth and Rowntree, worries for national efficiency, the creation of the Labour Party and the work of certain individuals such as Churchill and Lloyd George, the Liberal Government introduced a series of social reforms between 1906 and 1914 which reflected the changing views of the public and those in power. The new reforms dealt with poverty in child hood and old age, and poverty due to illness and low wages.
In 1906 free