Welfare In The Victorian Era Essay

The welfare state has existed since the Victorian era and is still existing in present day. The welfare state is a system that supports its countries people, help is given through health funding, financial provision and social needs. These are things such as benefits, grants and pensions. The welfare state has seen quite a few changes over the years, Victorian and liberal welfare states have dramatically changed to the one we see now. The Impact of the Blitz showed that things needed to be changed within the welfare state as it displayed how appalling the poverty in Britain was, this lead to two major reforms happening in education and the NHS. During the same period the William Beveridge report was published, Beveridge wanted to tackle the 5 giants. Finally, came Thatcher and the

Workhouses were for the individuals who were incapable of supporting themselves and their families financially, the workhouses meant that they could accommodate their family and work. The workhouses were set up by local parishes in the area as welfare state in the Victorian era was run by the church and charities. “The Elizabethan poor laws permitted parishes to find accommodation for poor impotent people” (Shave, 2008, History in focus). The workhouses came from the new poor amendment act 1834, the act was an effort to change poverty in England and wales. The new poor law act also had effect on other parts such as “Employment and wages, housing and rents, migration and settlement, medicine, marriage, charity and education” (Englander,2013, p. 8). The Victorian era also saw the industrial revolution, the welfare state could not handle this, industrial revolution meant that the population grew and people looking for work also grew. With the growing population housing became a problem for the welfare state, overcrowding was happening and slum housing was formed. Therefore, these were other reasons for workhouses being