Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XXV. Statistics relating to England and Wales.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XXV. Statistics relating to England and Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    20/942 (page 12)
    Scheme for ascertaining pauperism in urban and rural areas. (9) The increase in the number of able-bodied, both males and females, receiving indoor relief appears to be chiefly due to large increases in the number of sick, though during the last ten years there has been an appreciable addition to the number of healthy able-bodied men in receipt of relief. 61. The statistics so far given have referred to the whole of England and Wales. It is now proposed to make a short examination of the extent and movement of pauperism in urban and rural areas since 1870. A classification of all the unions under the two heads of urban and rural is, of course, impossible, for the majority of uniont> com- prise both urban and rural areas. A more extended classification must be made, and the figures will, for certain years, be analysed in the following groups :— (1) Unions in London. (2) Extra-Metropolitan unions: (a) Unions wholly comprised in boroughs or urban districts. (b) Unions, partly urban and partly rural, of which the following proportions of the population are comprised in boroughs or urban districts:— (i.) 75 per cent, or upwards. (ii.) 50 per cent, and under 75 per cent. (hi.) 25 per cent, and under 50 per cent. (iv.) Under 25 per cent. (c) Unions wholly comprised in rural districts. Pauperism in London and 62. In this classification the technical distinction be- tween urban and rural districts will be observed, for although the line technically drawn does not agree with any line of demarcation based upon density of population, yet the cases which would be transferred from one side to the other under a classification by density of population would not seriously affect the results. 63. Any re-arrangement under various heads of the pauperism statistics for the 643 unions in England and Wales, is, however, a laborious process and cannot be attempted for the whole of the period since 1870. Com- plete figures have been prepared for the years 1891-2, and 1900-1, which marked the lowest points of the two last cycles of pauperism, and for the years 1895-6 and 1905-6 which marked the highest points of the same cycles,* whilst certain information compiled upon a similar, though restricted, classification has been published by the Local Government Board for the January count of the years 1901 and 1904 to 1908. Mr. Pitts, C.B., and Mr. Davy, C.B., have also put in certain figures bearing upon this question. 64. For the County of London, however, which com- prises upwards of one-fifth of the urban population of England and Wales complete statistics are available, and as London presents many Poor Law problems peculiar to itself it is desirable to ascertain how far the statistics present different features from those for England and Wales as a whole. 65. The following Table shows the numbers relieved in Pauperism London and the rest of England and Wales during each in London cycle since 1870: and rest of best of England and Wales. England and Wales. Mean Number of Paupers (other than Casuals and Insane). London. Eest of England and Wales. England and Wales. Cycles. Number. Increase ( + ) or Decrease (-) per cent, in each Cycle. Number. Increase (+) or Decrease (- ) per cent, in each Cycle. t Number. Increase (+)or Decrease (- ) per cent, in each Cycle. 1871-2 to 1879-80 95,294 652,947 747,936 1880-1 to 1887-8 87,021 - 87 624,753 - 4-3 711,625 - 4-9 1888-9 to 1895-6 92,342 + 6-1 601,787 - 37 694,094 - 2-5 1896-7 to 1905-6 102,868 + 1P4 615,811 + 2-3 718,444 + 3-5 Latest cycle compared with first cycle. + 7,574 + 7-9 - 37,136 - 5-7 - 29,492 - 39 1906-7 1 (latest years j 113,516 656,261 769,159 1907-8) available) j 116,257 656,744 772,346 66. It will be observed that, whilst extra-Metropolitan England and Wales shows a decrease in pauperism of 5'7 per cent, the pauperism of London has increase I by 7-9 per cent, since the cycle of 1871-2 to 1879-8). Thus, London is maintaining some 7,600 paupers more than it was in the seventies, and some 15,800 more than in the eighties. Moreover, the population of London does not increase as rapidly as the population of the rest of England and Wales, and a comparison of the rates per 1,000 of population shows the pro- gress of pauperism in London to be still more unsatisfactory. Pauperism per 1,000 of Estimated Population in England and Wales and in London. London. England and Wales. Cycles. Persons relieved per 1,000 of estimated population.! Increase (+) or Decrease (- ). Persons relieved per 1,000 of estimated population,! Decrease. 1871-2 to 1879-80 1880-1 to 1887-8 1888-9 to 1895-6 1896-7 to 1905-6 1906- 7- 1 (latest years ( 1907- 8- j available) j 27'5 22-2 21- 8 22- 6 24-0 24-4 -5-3 - -4 + -8 312 26-6 23-8 22-2 22-3 221 -4-6 -2-8 -1-6 oee p. * as to prooaDuity ot iyuo-b being tne apex oi tne recent rise. t Counting once only the number of persons included in the Returns both as indoor paupers and as outdoor paupers (see p. 5). + Other than casuals and insane.