History of social welfare response to the needs of mothers and their dependent children
It is cardinal that a society takes care of its venerable members. It is also extremely essential that it ensures that their needs are fulfilled and they have a stable, secure and healthy life. Women and children are the most venerable people in a capitalist society. That is why is vital that a social welfare mechanisms adopts a swift and effective approach that would recognize their needs, and meet them in time. The origin of the poor laws can be traced as far as the medieval times in ancient England and Wales. As early as 1552, the Duke of Somerset Act was enacted to facilitate the provision of funds for poor families to take care of their children. Money was to be allocated to poor on dwellers with basic needs like food and shelter. The failure of these methods employed leads the national assembly to enact new rules in 1563. This Act required that poor people must accept donations from the bishop or be sanctioned by the law. There were stiff penalties including imprisonment for refusal to accept donations. With time, better mechanisms and policies of social welfare designs were enacted to ensure that the poor people’s lives were improved. The Justices of Peace were granted the roles to oversee that wealthier members of the society were forced to pay these donations to the poor as a form of tax.
A unique and more effective approach was adopted during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. While those in severe need of help were identified through community inquiries, those perceived to be lazy were not granted any financial help. The poor man was in most cases provided with clothing and food. These were deemed the most essential as they are critical to survival. Voluntary charity organizations mushroomed and worked hand in hand with the queen’s government to ensure that needy children and their poor parents were given food and clothing.
The most notable achievement of her majesty Queen Elizabeth was the enactment and the implementation of the Elizabethan Poor laws of 1601. This laws established a successful mechanism where responsibilities to take care of the poor was devolved to the parish level. In other words, the responsibilities of feeding and improving the welfare state of needy children, poor families and people with disabilities would be of the local parish. Therefore, a parish would have to raise funds through taxes from the wealthy, which would then be used to build shelters, buy food and clothing for the needy. The parish was supposed to operate within its jurisdiction and had no obligations to extend it to other parishes.
However, because of various reasons and circumstances, these programs were not as successful as anticipated. Some parishes had wealthier people than others while other had more generous wealthy people than others. Therefore, disparities began to be a significant challenge to the success of these well intended programs. Some poor people began moving to areas perceived to have more donations than their parish. The government moved in swiftly and enacted the Poor Relief Act of 1662. This Act intended to force people to return to their homes. Some poor people had started informal settlement areas in foreign parishes in order to gain from the donations in the host parish. The Act gave the parish local government authority to forcefully evict a non-resident of a parish. The poor people, who were mostly affected by this law, did not welcome its implementation. However, subsequent legislation provided for procedures and requirements that one had to meet to acquire a permit to migrate to a different parish.
During this period, the poor were regarded to be either ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy’. These categories were based on social stability, economic value and religion. Examples of ‘unworthy’ people included women who suffered in poverty after having a child out of wedlock. The religious mentality of that time shaped the line of thinking of most people. Therefore, people considered ‘unworthy’ would not receive the requisite help despite their suffering. Moreover, children born out of wedlock were also treated as ‘unworthy’ or bastards. They society would let them languish in poverty. They justified this by alleging that such newborns are not legitimate children. The church was also involved in discriminating illegitimate newborns by refusing to grant them help or recognition. However, as industrialization kicked in and the number of such children increased, the society had no option but to accept them. In England, a dual system of family law was introduced in the 17th century, that for the wealthy and for the poor. Nevertheless, the Poor Law Statute of 1601 and the Statute of Artificers of 1562 were extremely instrumental in ensuring that needy children, poor families and many other people who were unable to fend for themselves had a decent life. During industrialization, the pro-poor laws allowed for apprentice programs in order to mentor poor children hoe to earn a living.
Reference
Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R. (2011). Social Work and Social Welfare: An Introduction. New York: Cengage Learning.
