Introduction
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, unemployment rates had shot up thus making the term âunemploymentâ popular and commonly used in the mid 1890s. This was after the industrial capitalism had spread it tentacles in England. Unemployment was soon replaced by pauperism, a term that dominated majority of the public debates in the nineteenth century. The obsession that surrounded the paupers has a long history, as it revolved on whether to separate the rich people who were regarded as the âdeservingâ from the poor people who were regarded as the âundeservingâ. In England the poverty issue was highlighted as a result of a debate on whether poor relief was essential or it only increased the levels of poverty. It was suggested that the best way of comprehending sentiments that revolved around poverty and the pauper was to look at the failed legislations, rather than the legislations that succeeded (Martin and Fitzgerald 170).
Poverty in England in the late 19th to early 20th century
The upper and middle classes that existed in England in early 19th and 20th century were different and distinctive from the low class, who were regarded to be paupers. The Upper and middle classes boasted that it was their responsibility to lead others rather than to be lead. This was further emphasized by the civilization they possessed, which they regarded as pre-eminent. On the other hand, Poverty levels were high despite the prosperity that was taking place in the middle and upper classes of the English society. The industrial as well as the commercial success was not shared to millions of people in England. This resulted to distress and deprivation, which was clear to the common society at that time.
The urban dwellings were surrounded with slums, as the poor crowded into any available insanitary districts. Due to the fact that the poor people did not have any money, they were forced by the circumstances to rent poorly built houses that possessed inferior and inadequate facilities. In addition to this the poor were associated to the difficult, dirtiest and most dangerous occupations. The poor also experienced early deaths that were attributed to poor food they ate and the ill health they constantly suffered from. All of these hardships were caused by the fact that the poor people had no money to attain the required standard amenities (Chinn 6).
Observers on the other hand, did not take into consideration the fact that the poor people had insufficient funds needed to tackle their poverty situations. Instead they blame the poverty conditions on the paupers, as they regarded the conditions as self inflicted. This however was not the gospel truth as later in the nineteenth century, this notion was disputed by Social investigators. The social investigators indicated that, the predicament facing the poor is not self imposed, but rather due to economic conditions that cannot be controlled by the poor.
Conclusion
Despite the hardships that were experienced by the poor people in England in the early 19th and late 20th century, historians are of the perspective that the poor are people and that they needed to be recognized within the societies in which they dwelt in. This hence indicates that the poor are to be regarded in a positive manner as opposed to the negative perception they experienced.
References
Chinn, Carl. Poverty amidst prosperity: the urban poor in England, 1834-1914. NY, Manchester University Press. 1995.
Martin, Kurt and Fitzgerald, Valpy. Social institutions and economic development: a tribute to Kurt Martin. MA, Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2002.