Speenhamland System of Poor Relief

Speenhamland System of Poor Relief, policy devised by magistrates of the county of Berkshire sitting in the Pelican Inn at the village of Speenhamland near Newbury in 1795, and soon adopted by all other English counties. The poverty of English labourers of the time was a result partly of the Industrial Revolution, partly of the war with France, and partly of a succession of bad harvests. Under the Speenhamland system the wages of English labourers had to be raised to three shillings (15p) a week for a single man plus one shilling and sixpence (7yp) for each dependant, the money to come from the rates of his parish. At this time a loaf of bread cost one shilling (5p). The system had disastrous consequences: it encouraged employers to pay low wages, knowing that the rates would pay the balance. And when as a consequence rates rose dramatically, employers found it uneconomic to cultivate their land. Paying the poor in effect a dole if they chose not to work was also considered to pauperize them. The system remained in force for almost 40 years before it was replaced with a Poor Law by the reforming Whig government of 1834. This prohibited “outdoor” relief for men without disabilities, who in future would only be helped if they went into the workhouse. Bad as the Speenhamland system was, it was a significant development of the state's acceptance of responsibility for its poor.