Author Description

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.<br>