State, Society and the Poor in Nineteenth-Century England: In Nineteenth-Century England

by Alan Kidd

Overview

Today it is impossible to separate discussion of poverty from the priorities of state welfare. A hundred years ago, most working-class households avoided or coped with poverty without recourse to the state. The Poor Law after 1834 offered little more than a 'safety net' for the poorest, and much welfare was organised through charitable societies, self-help institutions and mutual-aid networks. Rather than look for the origins of modern provision, the author casts a searching light on the practices, ideology and outcomes of nineteenth-century welfare. This original and stimulating study, based upon a wealth of scholarship, is essential reading for all students of poverty and welfare. It also contains much to interest a wider readership.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333632543
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/08/1999
Series:	Social History in Perspective , #39
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

ALAN KIDD is Reader in History at Manchester Metropolitan University. His previous publications include Manchester, The Making of the British Middle Class and Gender, Civic Culture and Consumerism.
ALAN KIDD is Reader in History at Manchester Metropolitan University. His previous publications include Manchester, The Making of the British Middle Class and Gender, Civic Culture and Consumerism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
A Mixed Economy of Welfare
The State and Pauperism
Voluntary Charity and the Poor
The Working Class, Self Help and Mutual Aid
Poverty and Welfare in Historical Perspective
Appendix
Notes
Further Reading
Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

I read it with great pleasure ... It deals with the nineteenth century in its own right, and not as the antechamber to the Welfare State, bringing together poor law, philanthropy and self help in one volume, giving them roughly equal and well balanced treatment.' - Michael Rose, University of Manchester

Editorial Reviews

Kidd (history, Manchester Metropolitan U.) finds most analysts of 19th-century poverty and welfare to have one eye always on the future rise of the welfare state. He suggests that the current dismembering of the post-1945 welfare state makes the primary role of the state look like a phase rather than a culmination. He explains that voluntary charities, self-help organizations, and family care were as essential to the welfare of the community as the state was, even after the Poor Law of 1834. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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