Written in 1910, when the Poor Law was costing the United Kingdom close to twenty million pounds a year, this study traces how the central authority’s Orders, Circulars and Minutes actually shaped the treatment of the destitute. The Webbs follow policy toward children, the sick, the aged, vagrants and the able-bodied, and set it against the condemnation delivered by the Royal Commission of 1905–1909.
A key text of the campaign Beatrice Webb led through the Commission’s Minority Report, and essential reading on the roots of the welfare state. Download the free EPUB.