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History of Social Work in the United Kingdom

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 Contents

  1. Introduction 
  2. Role of the Church
  3. Welfare Becomes a State Responsibility
  4. The Elizabethan Poor Law 1601
  5. Influence of The Elizabethan Poor Law
  6. The Poor Law Revisions: 1834-1909 
  7. The Beveridge Report
  8. Beginnings of the COS Movement and Settlement House Movement 
  9. Summary

Introduction

In primitive society, sometimes known as 'folk society,' the wider family or tribe assumed responsibility for people whose needs could not be provided in the traditional manner. Children who had lost their parents were placed in relatives' homes or adopted by childless couples. Food was divided among family members and neighbours. When the feudal system gave way to the wage economy, laws were passed to force the impoverished to work. Begging was punishable with whippings, imprisonment, and even death.

Role of the Church

The folk tradition lasted in Europe during the early Christian era, and the faithful considered it a religious obligation to care for those members of the group who were unable to care for themselves. The greatest source of charitable motivation was religion. The church, particularly the monasteries, became distribution centres for food, medical aid, and shelter. The parish priest and other clerics who knew the individuals and their circumstances gave alms collected in the parish.

Welfare Becomes a State Responsibility

The severe legislation prohibiting begging and vagrancy is the first sign of the transition from church to government responsibility for relief. Between 1350 and 1530, a series of regulations known as the "Statutes of Labourers" were enacted in England, with the goal of forcing the impoverished to work. The decline of the church's influence and the growing trend to delegate duty to government authorities prompted a series of actions in England, culminating in the famous Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601.

Also read -  THE STATE AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION: ITS FUNCTION AND INFLUENCE ON OTHER INSTITUTIONS

The Elizabethan Poor Law 1601

The 1601 Poor Law was a compilation of previous poor relief legislation. After three generations of political, theological, and economic upheavals that necessitated government intervention, the statute marked the ultimate version of poor law legislation in England.

The law distinguished three classes of the poor

  1. The able-bodied poor were referred to as "sturdy beggars" and made to work in a correctional facility or workhouse. Those who refused to work at the correctional facility were either thrown in the stocks or imprisoned. 
  2. The impotent poor were persons who were unable to work, such as the sick, elderly, blind, deaf-mute, lame, insane, and mothers with small children. They were sent to the almshouse, where they were expected to assist to the best of their abilities. They were provided "outside relief" in the form of food, clothing, and fuel if they had a place to reside. 
  3. Orphans and children who had been abandoned by their parents or whose parents were too destitute to raise them were considered dependent children. Children aged eight and up who were capable of doing some household and other work were indentured to a townsman.

For the next 300 years, the Poor Law of 1601 set the standard for public aid under government control in Great Britain. It established the notion that the parish, as the local community, was responsible for organising and funding poor relief for the parish's citizens. The poor overseers were in charge of enforcing the poor legislation in the parish. Their job was to take the impoverished person's application for relief, research his or her situation, and determine whether he or she was eligible for assistance.

Influence of The Elizabethan Poor Law

Though similar reform measures were supported in Europe, it was the Poor Law of 1601, often known as 43 Elizabeth, that had the greatest impact on the development of public welfare and social work in the United Kingdom. The English Poor Law contains several significant concepts that continue to have a strong influence on welfare law four centuries later.

  1. The notion of the state’s obligation for assistance is unanimously acknowledged and has never been substantially questioned. It is in line with democratic thinking as well as with the principle of the separation of church and state. 
  2. The notion of municipal responsibility for welfare enunciated in the Poor Law stretches back to 1388 and is aimed to deter vagrancy. It stipulates that “sturdy beggars” to return to their birthplaces and there seek relief. 
  3. A third principle specified differential treatment of persons according to categories: the deserving as against the undeserving poor, children, the aged, and the sick. This idea is founded on the theory that certain categories of unhappy persons have a grater claim on the community than other types. 
  4. The Poor Law also outlined familial responsibilities for aiding dependants. Children, grandkids, parents, and grandparents were defined as “legally liable” relations.

The Elizabethan Poor Law was noteworthy and progressive when it was enacted. It has served as the basis for both English and American public welfare.

The Poor Law Revisions: 1834-1909

In 1834 a Parliamentary Commission presented a report which aimed to revise the Elizabethan and post Elizabethan Poor Laws. Upon the basis of the committee’s report legislation was enacted enunciating the following principles:
(a) doctrine of least eligibility,
(b) re-establishment of the workhouse test, and
(c) centralization of control. 

The doctrine of least eligibility said that a pauper's situation should never be considered more eligible than that of a person from the lowest social class who subsists on the results of their own labour. In other words, no one who received assistance was expected to be in the same financial situation. The able-bodied poor might ask for assistance in the public workhouse under the second principle, but unwillingness to accept the workhouse's accommodation and fare disqualified them from receiving any aid. The amount of outdoor relief was kept to a bare minimum. The third premise stated that a central authority made up of three Poverty Law Commissioners had the authority to integrate and coordinate poor law services across the country. The administrative units would no longer be parishes.

There were significant modifications in Poor Law legislation between 1834 and 1909, with the cumulative effect of veering the entire system away from the ideas of 1834. Changes that began to provide specialised treatment for specific disadvantaged groups were the most significant. For example, district schools and foster homes were established for dependent children, and specialised institutions for the crazy and feeble-minded were established.

The Poor Law Report of 1909 takes a more positive approach to the poor laws. Instead of repression, the report emphasised therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation, as well as universal provision in place of the selective workhouse test. If the principles of 1834 served as a "foundation of repression," the principles of 1909 may be described as a "structure of prevention."

The Beveridge Report

The chairman of the Interdepartmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, Sir William Beveridge, submitted the Committee's Report to the government in 1942. Four important principles were stressed in the report:

  1. Every citizen to be covered, 
  2. The major risks of loss of earning power -- sickness, unemployment, accident, old age, widowhood, maternity-- to be included in a single insurance, 
  3. A flat rate of contribution to be paid regardless of the contributor’s income, and 
  4. A flat rate of benefit to be paid, also without regard to income, as a right to all who qualify.

Beveridge emphasised that the plan's underpinning social concept was to protect the British from hunger and other social ills. Everyone is eligible for benefits such as maternity, sickness, unemployment, industrial injury, retirement, and a widow's allowance. Family Allowances, National Health Services, and National Assistance are all connected services.

The Beveridge Report of 1942 joins 601, 1834, 1909, and 1942 as one of the great documents in English Poor Law history. The report laid the groundwork for modern social welfare policy in the United Kingdom.

Beginnings of the COS Movement and Settlement House Movement

In 1869, a group of public-spirited persons in England created the London Charity Organization Society to address the problem of competing and overlapping social services in London, which had been growing over the years (COS). Two of the founders were Octavia Hill and Samuel Barnett. Octavia Hill created a technique of "friendly rent collecting" as a method of rehabilitating slum homes in her work as a housing reformer.

Through weekly meetings and 'Letters to Fellow Workers,' Octavia Hill imparted to the volunteers specific principles or laws to be observed in their operations. 'Each case and situation must be tailored to the individual,' she said. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for their privacy and independence. She cautioned her employees against judging the tenants based on their own personal standards. She believed that even the most degraded of her tenants deserved dignity.

Toynbee Hall was founded by Samuel Augustus Barnett, the first settlement house, where wealthy Oxford students "settled" in an attempt to ameliorate living conditions in Whitechapel's slums. The primary concept was to bring educated people together with the impoverished for mutual gain. The Christian Socialists have realised that simply distributing charity does not alleviate issues. It was necessary to live with the poor and listen to their issues in order to gain a deeper understanding of the situation of poverty and underdevelopment.

Summary

We've seen how social work evolved from the Church's charity focus to the role of the state in public welfare. The movements and organisations that began in the United Kingdom.


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