The Statute of Labourers was an act of the Parliament of England under King Edward III, passed in 1351 in response to the labour shortage that followed the Black Death. It aimed to regulate the labour force by prohibiting the request or offer of a wage higher than pre-plague standards and by limiting workers' movement in search of better conditions. The popular narrative holds that the statute was poorly enforced and did not stop the rise in real wages, though in fact real wages did not rise immediately after the Black Death despite the labour shortage.
Facts
Enacted Year Enacted Date JurisdictionEngland and Wales, Ireland 1 Legal StatusRepealed in England and Wales on 28 July 1863 by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 1 Partially Attested
Official CitationStatutes of the Realm number it Stat. 2 and Statutes at Large number it Stat. 1 Legal Status
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Source Wikidata: Statute of Labourers 1351
Sources
1. Statute of Labourers 1351, Wikipedia
Infobox, Royal assent
Royal assent: 1351
Infobox, Enacted by
Parliament of England
Infobox, Citation
25 Edw. 3. Stat. 2
Infobox, Repealed by
Statute Law Revision Act 1863
Infobox, commencement
9 February 1351
Subsequent developments section
The whole act was repealed for England and Wales by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125) and for Ireland by the Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c.
In Group: British Labour and Factory Statutes, Introduction, sentence 2
Stat. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England under King Edward III in 1351 in response to a labour shortage, which aimed at regulating the labour force by prohibiting requesting or offering a wage higher than pre-Plague standards and limiting movement in search of better conditions.
View the SourceWikidata: Statute of Labourers 1351
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