The Vagabonds Act 1572 was a law passed in England under Queen Elizabeth I.[1] It is a part of the Tudor Poor Laws and a predecessor to the Elizabethan Poor Laws.
The 1572 act provided that justices of the peace were to register the names of the "aged, decayed, and impotent" poor to determine how much money was required to care for them. The justices of the peace would then assess all inhabitants of the parish for their keep. Overseers of the poor would periodically conduct "views and searches" of the poor. Those refusing to contribute to poor relief would be confined to the gaol.[2]
Justices of the Peace were allowed to license beggars if there were too many for the parish to provide for. Any unlicensed vagabonds were to be whipped and burned through the ear.[3] It further provided that any surplus funds could be used to “place and settle to work the rogues and vagabonds.”
Combined with the Poor Act 1575, the 1572 act formed the basis for the subsequent Elizabethan Poor Laws.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabonds_Act_1572
An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England such as the United States.
England
In England, overseers of the poor administered poor relief such as money, food and clothing as part of the Poor Law system. The position was created by the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597.
Overseers of the poor were often reluctant appointees who were unpaid, working under the supervision of a justice of the peace. The law required two overseers to be elected every Easter, and churchwardens or landowners were often selected.
The new system of poor relief reinforced a sense of social hierarchy and provided a way of controlling the 'lower orders'.[1] Overseers of the poor were replaced in the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, and replaced with boards of guardians, although overseers remained in some places as a method of collecting the poor rate.[2]
Duties
Overseers had four duties:
- Estimate how much poor relief money was needed in order to set the poor rate accordingly;
- Collect the poor rate;
- Distribute poor relief; and
- Supervise the poorhouse.[1]
Vermont
Overseers of the Poor in the U.S. state of Vermont were often reluctant but elected, unpaid officers of the town. Towns were sometimes so small in population that a few applicants for aid could overwhelm the budget.
Frequent requests for aid could result in the applicant being sent to a county poor farm where residents were not only expected to work to support themselves, but often to support handicapped or elderly residents, as well. Sometimes the latter predominated, putting an insupportable burden on able-bodied residents.[citation needed]
Relief was obtained when the state took over welfare in 1968.[3]
See also
References
- Fields, Michelle (25 October 2015). "Ledger Reveals Hidden Poor Farm History". The Vermont Standard. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
Poor Laws of the British Isles | ||
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| Poor Laws by territory |  Nantwich workhouse | |
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| Decline and abolition | ||
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseer_of_the_poor
The Poor Relief Act 1662 (14 Car 2 c 12) was an Act of the Cavalier Parliament of England. It was an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom and is also known as the Settlement Act or the Settlement and Removal Act. The purpose of the Act was to establish the parish to which a person belonged (i.e. his/her place of "settlement"), and hence clarify which parish was responsible for him should he become in need of Poor Relief (or "chargeable" to the parish poor rates). This was the first occasion when a document proving domicile became statutory: these were called "settlement certificates".
After 1662, if a man left his settled parish to move elsewhere, he had to take his settlement certificate, which guaranteed that his home parish would pay for his "removal" costs (from the host parish) back to his home if he needed poor relief. As parishes were often unwilling to issue such certificates, people often stayed where they were – knowing that, should they become indigent, they would be entitled to their parish's poor rate.
The 1662 Act stipulated that if a poor person (that is, resident of a tenancy with a taxable value less than £10 per year, who did not fall under the other protected categories) remained in the parish for forty days of undisturbed residency, he could acquire "settlement rights" in that parish. However, within those forty days, upon any local complaint, two JPs could remove the man and return him to his home parish. As a result, some parish officers dispatched their poor to other parishes, with instructions to remain hidden for forty days before revealing themselves. This loophole was closed with the Reviving and Continuance Act 1685 (1 Ja. 2. c.17) which required new arrivals to register with parish authorities.[1] But sympathetic parish officers often hid the registration, and did not reveal the presence of new arrivals until the required residency period was over. As a result, the law was further tightened in 1692 (3 & 4 Will. & Mar. c. 11), and parish officers were obliged to publicly publish arrival registrations in writing in the local church Sunday circular, and read to the congregation, and that the forty days would only start counting from thereon.
The settlement laws benefited the owners of large estates who controlled housing. Some land owners demolished empty housing in order to reduce the population of their lands and prevent people from returning. It was also common to recruit labourers from neighbouring parishes so that they could easily be sacked. Magistrates could order parishes to grant poor relief. However, often the magistrates were landowners and therefore unlikely to make relief orders that would increase poor rates.
The Settlement Act was repealed in 1834 (under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, which introduced the union workhouses), although not fully. The concept of parish settlement has been characterised as "incompatible with the newly developing industrial system", because it hindered internal migration to factory towns.[2]
It was finally repealed by section 245 of, and Schedule 11 to, the Poor Law Act 1927 (c.14) and by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Settlement terms
To gain settlement in a parish a person had to meet at least one of the following conditions:-
- Be born into the parish.
- Have lived in the parish for forty consecutive days without complaint.
- Be hired for over a year and a day that takes place within the parish – (this led to short lengths of hire so that settlement was not obtained).
- Hold an office in the parish.
- Rent a property worth £10 per year or pay the same in taxes.
- Have married into the parish.
- Gained poor relief in that parish previously.
- Have a seven-year apprenticeship with a settled resident.[3]
Notes
- It is also cited as 13 & 14 Car 2 c 12
References
Sources
- Text of the Act – 'Charles II, 1662: An Act for the better Releife of the Poore of this Kingdom.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 401–05. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47315. Date accessed: 18 September 2007.
- Workhouse.org.uk – Full Text of the Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Relief_Act_1662
Poverty is a state or condition in which one lacks the financial resources and essentials for a certain standard of living. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects.[1] When evaluating poverty in statistics or economics there are two main measures: absolute poverty compares income against the amount needed to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter;[2] relative poverty measures when a person cannot meet a minimum level of living standards, compared to others in the same time and place. The definition of relative poverty varies from one country to another, or from one society to another.[2]
Statistically, as of 2019, most of the world's population live in poverty: in PPP dollars, 85% of people live on less than $30 per day, two-thirds live on less than $10 per day, and 10% live on less than $1.90 per day now changed to $2.15/day.(extreme poverty).[3] According to the World Bank Group in 2020, more than 40% of the poor live in conflict-affected countries.[4] Even when countries experience economic development, the poorest citizens of middle-income countries frequently do not gain an adequate share of their countries' increased wealth to leave poverty.[5] Governments and non-governmental organizations have experimented with a number of different policies and programs for poverty alleviation, such as electrification in rural areas or housing first policies in urban areas. The international policy frameworks for poverty alleviation, established by the United Nations in 2015, are summarized in Sustainable Development Goal 1: "No Poverty".
Social forces, such as gender, disability, race and ethnicity, can exacerbate issues of poverty—with women, children and minorities frequently bearing unequal burdens of poverty. Moreover, impoverished individuals are more vulnerable to the effects of other social issues, such as the environmental effects of industry or the impacts of climate change or other natural disasters or extreme weather events. Poverty can also make other social problems worse; economic pressures on impoverished communities frequently play a part in deforestation, biodiversity loss and ethnic conflict. For this reason, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and other international policy programs, such as the international recovery from COVID-19, emphasize the connection of poverty alleviation with other societal goals.[6]
Definitions and etymology
The word poverty comes from the old (Norman) French word poverté (Modern French: pauvreté), from Latin paupertās from pauper (poor).[7]
There are several definitions of poverty depending on the context of the situation it is placed in, and usually references a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a certain standard of living.
United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one's food or a job to earn one's living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.[8]
World Bank: Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one's life.[9]
European Union (EU): The European Union's definition of poverty is significantly different from definitions in other parts of the world, and consequently policy measures introduced to combat poverty in EU countries also differ from measures in other nations. Poverty is measured in relation to the distribution of income in each member country using relative income poverty lines.[10] Relative-income poverty rates in the EU are compiled by the Eurostat, in charge of coordinating, gathering, and disseminating member country statistics using European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) surveys.[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the span of a life. It is sometimes used referring to inanimate objects, i.e. a building, but is generally used to estimate the average life span of living things, more specifically human life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy
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