Abstract
It is well known that, despite local and regional variation, outdoor relief under the New Poor Law rarely provided paupers with subsistence income. However, this conclusion has generally been reached through analysis of poor relief doles in isolation. This marks an oversight, as poor relief was rarely the only form of income available to a pauper. This article uses a unique source to examine outdoor relief with what historians have termed the 'makeshift economy', with a particular focus on wages and welfare in the 1850s.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 88-98 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire |
Volume | 164 |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |