Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, known as the New Poor Law, was passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey in England and Wales, replacing the Poor Relief Act 1601 and denying the poor an automatic right to subsistence relief outside the workhouse. It abolished most outdoor relief and introduced the principle of less eligibility, under which conditions inside the workhouse were deliberately made worse than those of the poorest independent laborer outside it, in order to discourage applications and reduce the cost of poor relief, particularly in the agricultural counties of southern England. Drawing on the theories of Malthus, Ricardo and Bentham, it is regarded as a classic example of Whig-Benthamite reforming legislation of the period; its harsh implementation produced scandals such as the Andover workhouse affair and provoked fierce opposition, especially in the industrial north, and it remained in force until the National Assistance Act 1948 established the modern welfare state.