The Quicksands of the Poor Law

The Quicksands of the Poor Law

Author: William P. Quigley

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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This article reviews the development of American poor law from 1790 to 1820. Because poor law was primarily state based, the main focus is on the laws of ten states that joined the U.S. during this time: Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, and Maine. English poor law continued to impact the development of state poor relief law, but legislative experiences in other states began to exert significant influence as well. Work remained the cure for poverty. Poor people who could work were to do so. Poor children were expected to labor and were often apprenticed. Poor adults were put to work in workhouses and poorhouses, or jailed as vagrants. State laws of this period continue to reflect a strong theme that punishing and stigmatizing the non-working poor would prod them to work and thus cure their poverty.


Ending Poverty As We Know It

Ending Poverty As We Know It

Author: William Quigley

Publisher: Temple University Press

Published: 2008-10-23

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1592137776

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Across the United States tens of millions of people are working forty or more hours a week...and living in poverty. This is surprising in a country where politicians promise that anyone who does their share, and works hard, will get ahead. In Ending Poverty As We Know It, William Quigley argues that it is time to make good on that promise by adding to the Constitution language that insures those who want to work can do so—and at a wage that enables them to afford reasonable shelter, clothing, and food.


Local Redistribution and Local Democracy

Local Redistribution and Local Democracy

Author: Clayton P. Gillette

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 030017182X

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The traditional theory of urban finance argues against local redistribution of wealth on the assumption that such action is likely to chase away the relatively wealthy, leaving only the impoverished behind. Nevertheless, Clayton P. Gillette observes, local governments engage in substantial redistribution, both to the wealthy and to the poor. In this thoughtful book, Gillette examines whether recent campaigns to enact "living wage" ordinances and other local redistributive programs represent gaps in the traditional theory or political opportunism. He then investigates the role of the courts in distinguishing between these explanations. The author argues that courts have greater capacity to review local programs than is typically assumed. He concludes that when a single interest group dominates the political process, judicial intervention to determine a program's legal validity may be appropriate. But if the political contest involves competing groups, courts should defer to local political judgments.


Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700-1850

Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700-1850

Author: Steven King

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2000-12-15

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780719049408

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As the Blair government launches a new campaign against poverty, the notion of “the deserving and undeserving poor” raises it head again in the media. The Poor Law, particularly the Old/New Poor Law at the junction of the 18th and 19th centuries in England is again the focus of attention. This book provides the first accessible and comprehensive overview of the literature on poverty and of the welfare policies of the state, as well as the alternative welfare strategies of the poor for the period 1700-1850.