Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper

Helping the Poor

The persistence of poverty remains one of the most fundamental challenge facing human societies in both the developed and emerging worlds. A series of key developments in England during the 16^th century including the prohibition of the Roman Catholic Church by King Henry VII, plague epidemics, the rise of mercantilism, demographic changes due to migration and ongoing conflicts and way triggered significant changes to the structure of social life, leading to high rates of poverty. Earlier research on poverty indicates that a series of large-scale interventions such as the implementation of the Elizabethan poor law, and numerous movements such as the Charity Organization Society (COS) and the Settlement Movement played a major role in tackling the problem of extreme poverty in England (Henrickson, 2022). In this critical learning essay and discussion, strong emphasis is placed on examining the rise of the ‘under-privileged and the ill-begotten’ as state responsibility after the 1600s. Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper

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Main Discussion

Codified in 1597-98, the Elizabethan Poor Laws encompasses a series of legislative interventions introduced by Queen Elizabeth to tackle the growing issue of unemployment, economic stagnation and prevalent famine. This legislation provided for both outdoor and indoor relief, and sought to boost the provision of assistance to the poor through collection of a poor relief rate from property owners, provision of aid relief and creation of employment or work-related activities (McIntosh, 2013). Yerli (2022) observed that the enactment of the Elizabethan Poor Law proved a major turning point in positioning the government as a key party tasked with providing relief for the poor within the three major categories of dependents namely: the involuntary unemployed, the vagrant and the helpless. Stears (2002) established that the Elizabethan Poor Law introduced a set of indoor and outdoor relief measures and social policies aimed at ensuring the ‘deserving poor’ are relived of absolute destitution. Similar sentiments are shared by Alfani et al. 2022) who argued that the 1601 poor law paved the way for increased taxation by the local government in order at raising the requisite funds for creating and maintaining almshouses; offering indoor relief (such as sustenance in the form of food, clothes or cash) for the handicapped the aged and other worthy poor (idle poor, impotent poor, poor children; and the mobilization of resources (e.g. materials, tools, equipment) for putting the unemployed (able-bodied poor) to work. With regards to indoor relief, the 1601 poor law requires that the deserving poor to be recruited into the local almshouse, the ill to be admitted to the hospital, the idle poor to be taken into workhouses or poorhouses to engage in productive activity, and orphans to be given a placement in the orphanage (McIntosh, 2013). Equally, the poor laws also introduced the imposition of mandatory apprenticeships for children who did receive support from parents, and the fining or placement of any-bodied person and vagrant to a house of correcting upon refusal to engage in work-related activities (Henrickson, 2022). Other key developments associated with the enforcement of the Elizabethan poor law included the introduction of workhouses/poorhouses for the able-bodied, and the establishment of hospitals for persons with physical disabilities, infant poor, and others considered to be weak or elderly (Yerli, 2022). Although the Elizabethan poor law was widely deemed to be suitable for the British society of the time, the shortcomings of this legislative intervention paved the way for implementation of other legislations and institutional measures aimed at helping the poor. Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper

The enactment of the Settlement and Removal law in 1662 marked a step aimed at limiting the provision of aid by the local government and parish organizations only to persons and families identified as ‘residents.’ Katz (1998) mentioned that the Settlement Act of 1662 gave powers to the Overseers of the home parish organizations to withdraw relief assistance to individuals considered to be a burden on the limited financial resources put aside for poor relief. Similar to the poor laws, James (1996) explained that the Settlement Act of 1697 was enforced in response to the growing number of dependent individuals who moved to other parishes in pursuit of more substantial financial assistance, and hence the subsequent rise in expenditures on public relief paved the way for additional institutional and legislative measures to reform the system of public welfare services in England.

Equally, the contributions of the Charity Organization Society (COS) in the fight against poverty in the late 19^th century remain integral to the provision of relief to the poor. Kidd (1997) explained that the Charity organization movement of the 1880s generated what is described as days “full of hope for humanity” through implementation of charity-oriented programs and initiatives aimed at the eradication of pauperism and enhanced coordination of welfare services. Established in 1869, the Charity Organization Society sought to trigger a paradigm shift in the manner in which indoor and outdoor relief measures were implemented, and the greater need for a comprehensive policy of ensuring the eligibility requirements are fully met prior to the provision of relief to those considered as the deserving poor (Henrickson, 2022). Similarly, Skinner and Thomas (2017) noted that the COS sought to respond to the distinct needs of the target persons through involvement in philanthropic actions aimed at solving social problems through coordination of activities of various relief agencies or bodies engaged in the delivery of assistance, both public and charitable support. As such, the Charity Organization Society focused on linking applicants to gain access to appropriate welfare service providers through the collection of accurate information about the applicants, conducting background checks with employers and landlord and reporting to the COS district committees (Henrickson, 2022). The operations of the COS helped to strengthen the provision of voluntary assistance to the poor through strong focus social work practices that favored holistic, scientific intervention to the alleviation of poverty (Kidd, 1997). Moreover, the activities of the Charity Organization Society paved the way for the social reforms aimed at increasing the sources of funds, changes to the eligibility criteria for the underserving and deserving, boosting the ability to organize charity, and conducting careful investigations to determine the severity of circumstances experienced by the people and families covered under the COS approach (McIntosh, 2013).  Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper Therefore, strong emphasis on achieving self-reliance and independence from direct relief was primarily informed by the greater need to demolish the cycle of poverty that had engulfed a significant portion of individuals categorized as deviant, distressed or poor (Skinner & Thomas, 2017). However, the COS was heavily criticized for its hard-heartedness, and its alleged position as the epitome of everything that was paternalistic, cruel and judgmental in government welfare policy.

The settlement movement is also another key development that began in the 1880s to the early 1920s in the UK and the United States. Köngeter (2020) explained that the settlement movement sought to bridge the gap between the rich and poor of society through the creation of ‘settlement houses’ in poor urban environments for housing middle-class workers and for addressing the poverty of their neighbors in the low socio-economic backgrounds. Similarly, Katz (1998) added that the approaches employed by the settlement movement sought to capture the social, educational, health and economic aspects of poverty by offering related services within these settlement houses. Whilst the movement favored a more collectivist approach, it essentially sought to implement a series of social policy innovations and initiatives aimed at enhancing the conditions of the poor members of society (Köngeter, 2020). As such, the dispensation of voluntary charity by the movement was centered in the creation of neighborhoods that are self-supporting and self-determining, and capable of implementing neighborhood-focused programs on the alleviation of poverty.

Reflection

This analysis has greatly deepened my knowledge and understanding of current human service delivery models. First, the key provisions of the Elizabethan poor law have played a major role in influencing the various reforms aimed at boosting the provision of relief to the poor. Moreover, the Elizabethan legislation inspired the implementation of client-centered interventions aimed at tackling the causes and effects of poverty, and this is well reflected in the contemporary models of social work practice (Henrickson, 2022). McIntosh (2013) explained that the humanistic clauses of the poor law helped to reinforce the centrality of the State as a key actor in the fight against poverty and unemployment as pertinent societal problems facing millions of people in the welfare state. Equally, the development of contemporary welfare structures was also reinforced by the increase in government taxation, and the pursuit of welfare reforms aimed at expanding the delivery of welfare services to assist those who are most vulnerable to the plight of extreme poverty. Yerli (2022) commented that a number of key measures such as the development of settlement houses, provision of voluntary assistance and financial support to the poor. In this case, the contemporary welfare system appears to consider poverty as a complex phenomenon attributed to a myriad of socio-economic, geographical, historical and structural factors. Equally, the operations of the Charity Organization Society also paved the way for the adoption of scientific principles to bolster the allocation of relief, enhance the recruitment of eligible persons, and inspire the rise of the welfare state (Kidd, 1997). Theretofore, the legislative and institutional changes witnessed since the enactment of the Elizabethan poor law, the formation of the Charity Organization Society and the rise of the Settlement Movement have since played an instrumental role in shaping the contemporary social work practices and policies on poverty reduction and elimination (Köngeter, 2020). These findings reinforces the greater need for providing holistic, customized and client-centered social services and social policy interventions for those categorized as dependents with the core intention of improving their standards of living and quality of life. Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper

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Conclusion

The paper attempted to explore some of the legislative and institutional developments aimed at the alleviation of poverty in the United Kingdom since the early 1600s to the present day. A number of key developments including the implementation of the Elizabethan poor law, the Charity Organization Society and Settlement movement had profound impact on the fight against poverty amidst the mixed outcomes. The knowledge acquired about these key developments can be used to inform a better understanding of the modern welfare service delivery models, policies and practices. Profound Impact on The Fight Against Poverty Assignment Paper