Reasons for the Liberal Social Reforms - Social campaigners

2. The deserving poor
Before the twentieth century, many
people’s attitude to the poor was
that it was their own fault. As a
result, the government did little or
nothing to help them.
The very poor had to rely on
charity to meet their basic needs.
But this began to change in the
late-1800s; the ‘deserving poor’
were born.

3. Booth and Rowntree
Most middle and upper class
people in Britain had no idea what
life was like for the very poorest in
society. Two famous reports
helped change this.
Charles Booth, a businessman,
did not believe that extreme
poverty existed in London. From
1886 to 1903, he carried out an
investigation to prove this.

4. Booth’s findings
In fact it was Booth who was
surprised; extreme poverty
did exist in London with 35%
of people suffering from this.
Booth argued there was a
‘poverty line’ and said a
family of 4/5 people needed
between 10 and 20 shillings
each week to avoid poverty.

5. “Few of the 200 families who lived there
occupied more than one room. 15
rooms out of 20 were filthy to the last
degree. Not a room was free of vermin
(mice or lice). The little yard at the back
was only sufficient for a dust bin, toilet
and water tap, which served 7 families.”
Excerpt from one of Charles Booth’s reports

6. Study findings
Booth’s surveys provided
evidence of the poverty
problem, encouraging actions
to fix this, and stopping
denials about its existence.
Booth also warned that if
people’s lives were not
improved, a violent revolution
might occur. This again forced
the government to act.

7. Not the end of poverty
Ultimately Booth’s research did
raise awareness of poverty, but
not enough to end the problem.
Many people continued to live
very poor lives, and the
maximum pension was still
below the amount needed to
achieve a decent standard of
living.

8. The Chocolate Kings
Many of Britain’s most famous
sweets and chocolates came
from the Rowntree family in
York, including Kit Kats, Jelly
Tots and Fruit Pastilles.
The Rowntree Family also
helped show Victorian Britain
just how bad poverty was.

9. Joseph Rowntree
Joseph Rowntree was the
owner of the world famous
Rowntree factory in York.
Although very rich he believed in
treating his workers fairly, offering
benefits such as education,
medical help and pensions.
He inspired his son’s interest in
these issues too.

10. Seebohm Rowntree
Seebohm was influenced by his
father Joseph and Charles Booth
and conducted a study into
poverty in his home town of York.
His study found that 30% of
people lived in extreme poverty. In
particular he recognised that
poverty was often not the fault of
those living in it.

11. Rowntree also highlighted the main stages of a man’s life
when he was likely to face poverty.

12. Not just London
Rowntree’s reports were
important because they
proved that poverty was a
national problem, not
simply a London one.
Both cities had around 1/3
of people living in extreme
poverty, and this showed
the need for national
action.

13. Primary Poverty
Rowntree’s reports spoke
about primary poverty
meaning that some families -
regardless of how they spent
their money – did not have
the minimum needed.
The publicity this created
helped persuade the Liberal
government of the need to
take action.

14. Secondary poverty
However Rowntree’s report also
gave people opposed to helping
the poor an excuse not to do so.
He talked about secondary
poverty. This meant that a poor
family had just enough money to
live on but wasted it on luxuries
such as alcohol or cigarettes.
Some said this made it their fault
and they shouldn’t be helped.