Outdoor Relief

This system of relief allowed the poor to remain in their own homes. Under the Speenhamland system of 1795 a sliding scale, related to the price of grain, was used to work out the amount of relief that should be paid. Relief could also be given to assist the passage for emigrants, thereby removing the problem. As attitudes changed, the poor were often viewed as idle, and it was believed that employers paid deliberately low wages knowing that the parish or Union would make them up. It was felt that expenditure on outdoor relief was too high and under the New Poor Law changes were made which almost abolished this system of relief.