the Poor Law
noun /ðə ˈpɔː lɔː/, /ðə ˈpʊə lɔː/
/ðə ˈpʊr lɔː/, /ðə ˈpɔːr lɔː/
- a group of laws used in Britain in the past to control the help that was given to poor people
(英国旧时的)济贫法 CultureThe first Poor Law (1601) stated that the poor were the responsibility of the parish, and that local people should be taxed to provide food for the poor. These taxes became too high when the number of poor people increased in the early 19th century, and in 1834 a new Poor Law stated that the poor should be made to work in workhouses. This was not at all popular, but the system of workhouses did not end until the Local Government Act of 1929. The Poor Law system finally finished when the welfare state was introduced in 1948.