Poverty and the PoorhouseLO: Understand why people were forced into the Poorhouse. Describing the conditions of the workhouse.
SC: Concise note taking and detailed answers to build exam style answers.
Think, Pair, Share
Why did people end up in the Workhouse (poor house)??
Some causes of poverty• Unemployment • Illness/ death of the wage earner• Too many children• Unexpected bills• Old age• Wasted money• Other causes – includes ‘buying dear’, the
purchase of small quantities of food at higher prices
• Idolence (laziness), drink and poor budgeting were not found to be major causes of poverty, contrary to Middle Class Victorian beliefs.
Booth and Rowntree
• Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree carried out a study in York at the turn of the century
• They found that 30% of the population was living without adequate food, clothing and shelter
• Old age, unemployment and casual labour were found to be the main causes of poverty
• Another reason was that wages for full time employment were too low
Children born, expenses up and mother quits work
First married, couple both working
First children go to work, bringing in income and mother can again work
These children leave home to begin own families; old age spent in poverty
The poverty trap
Poverty line
Poverty in Britain
Life in a workhouse
• Religious overtones as charity in the 19th and early 20th century was Church funded
Women picking oakum in the workhouse
“Picking oakum was used as a punishment in prison, and in workhouses as a way of able-bodied inmates earning their board and lodging.”
The Work House
Townhead poorhouse
• Glasgow City Poorhouse c. 1828• Report found it was inadequate
in separating sick and able-bodied
• Poor sanitary conditions• Water closets used as
sculleries/ pantries• Poor bathing facilities – 290
men took their weekly bath in 2 baths – took 12 hours to complete
Inadequate facilities for open-air exerciseBadly lit and ventilated day rooms
• Opened in 1845 this was originally designed as the Glasgow Lunatic Asylum
• 1,500 beds• One of the largest pauper institutions in Britain
“Occupational Therapy for Paupers”
Basket weaving
Working in the workhouse laundry
Task
• Complete in full sentences the “life in poverty” in class and “the workhouse” worksheet for homework
Govan Workhouse
• http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Govan/
Workhouse Roll
Pay particular attention the Sexton family and Winifred MurphyWhy were people in the workhouse?
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Glasgow/Glasgow1881.shtml
Tasks for today
When complete write a descriptive paragraph about life in the workhouse. What people have you met? Why are they there? What are the conditions like? Use the key words below:
pauper workhouse oakumdegradation asylum
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