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Public Assistance and Social Welfare
Contents
The Poorhouse > Outdoor Relief > Children's
Law of 1875 > Child Saving > Home Relief > The New Deal > Aliens
and the WPA > The War on Poverty > Welfare Policy Today
The Poorhouse
Before the advent of the New Deal in 1934, the
poorhouse dominated the structure of social welfare in the United
States. Almost every county had its poorhouse. Born out of the British
welfare tradition, the American poorhouse was a miserable, poorly
managed, and underfunded institution rife with contradictions that
failed to meet any of the goals promised by its advocates. In theory,
the poorhouse that emerged in the mid-19th century was supposed
to deter pauperism and dependence among the able-bodied working-class
and poor, but in reality it ended up serving as last refuge for
the sick, disabled, and elderly where they were shut away from their
families, friends, and communities.1
During the 19th century, no clear line separated ordinary working
people from those in need of help. The result of great transformations
in social and economic life, periodic destitution was common. Indeed,
according to historian Michael Katz, "the availability of work
for every able-bodied person desiring a job is one of the enduring
myths of American history." As unskilled and semiskilled workers
flooded urban labor markets, work was nowhere universally available.
Work during the 19th century was characteristically unsteady and
varied with demand. Few manufacturers employed a consistent number
of workers throughout the year, and periodic depressions put many
more on the rolls of the unemployed. Periods of dependency were
normal experiences of working class life.2
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, poorhouses were not specialized
institutions. But by 1850, they had become instruments of social
policy that rested on optimistic assumptions about the possibilities
of reform, rehabilitation, and education. Their middle and upper
class proponents believed wholeheartedly that institutions could
improve society through their impact on personality and behavior.
Foremost among the missions of the poorhouse was the inculcation
of the habit of steady work in the able-bodied poor. During this
era, New York City's poorhouse was located on Randall's Island.3
Originally tasked with cutting the expense of pauperism by deterring
people from applying for outdoor relief, they later developed into
institutions structured to transform the behavior and character
of their inmates. Although they were supposed to care for the poor
in a humane fashion, the 19th century poorhouse was built upon irreconcilable
contradictions that made it both a refuge for the helpless and a
deterrent to the able-bodied.4
In their beginnings, poorhouses appeared to shelter the helpless
while slowing the growth of pauperism. This early optimism soon
faded as the poorhouse failed to meet its intended purpose. In the
end, the poorhouse did not check the proliferation of outdoor relief,
nor did it promote industry and temperance among the American working
classes. As a result of corruption and misguided social policy,
they turned into rowdy, noisy places in which discipline was almost
impossible. In addition, the easy availability of alcohol within
poorhouses thwarted attempts to curb the intemperance believed by
many to be the immediate cause of pauperism. What is more, inmates
entered the poorhouse voluntarily, and could leave when they wished.
This policy helped in some ways to make the institution a temporary
refuge for the degenerate poor. Indeed, poorhouses remained most
crowded in the winter, the time of year when work slackened and
many were thrown into the ranks of the unemployed.5
In the end, it was more expensive to support someone in the poorhouse
than it was to dispense outdoor relief. Some contemporaries even
argued that the poorhouse had made the poor less independent, demoralized
the poor, and left the poor with less shame. When the history of
the poorhouse is taken into account, it is ultimately a story of
failure.6
1 Michael Katz,
In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America
(New York: Basic Books, 1986), ch. 1.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
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