by David Hay Newsome
““The symbol of everything hateful about Malthusianism was - to the section of the population most affected by it the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. There was to be no more relief for paupers, that is to say, the so-called 'idle poor'; at a time of 'over-population' (the Malthusian term for unemployment), no help to those unable to obtain work. What they were offered instead was the seemingly heartless 'Workhouse Test', based on the principle of 'Less Eligibility', which-in language that the poor could understand - meant simply this: 'Take it or leave it. If you won't work, or if you can't work, or if you choose to be a pauper (which is not the same thing as being poor), you can come inside the workhouse, and we shall do our best to make your life that much less congenial than anything you can find for yourself outside. We won't have people coming here to shirk work.'”
“The symbol of everything hateful about Malthusianism was - to the section of the population most affected by it the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. There was to be no more relief for paupers, that is to say, the so-called 'idle poor'; at a time of 'over-population' (the Malthusian term for unemployment), no help to those unable to obtain work. What they were offered instead was the seemingly heartless 'Workhouse Test', based on the principle of 'Less Eligibility', which-in language that the poor could understand - meant simply this: 'Take it or leave it. If you won't work, or if you can't work, or if you choose to be a pauper (which is not the same thing as being poor), you can come inside the workhouse, and we shall do our best to make your life that much less congenial than anything you can find for yourself outside. We won't have people coming here to shirk work.'”
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Rutgers University Press
ISBN 10: 0813524547
