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Poor houses were facilities for people in poverty during the Victorian era, but the term is no longer used due to negative connotations. They were often run as prisons and viewed poverty as a moral weakness. Poor house residents lived in crowded dormitories, did grueling work, and had limited food. Critics argued poor houses failed to provide support and training. Today, communities provide temporary shelter and public assistance to people in poverty.
A poor house is a facility operated to provide shelter and assistance to people living in poverty. The term “poor house” is not very widespread today, as it has pejorative connotations that people prefer to avoid. Poor houses were especially prevalent and popular during the Victorian era, with examples existing up until the mid-20th century, but such structures go by other names today. They are also managed very differently from historic poor houses, due to changing attitudes towards factors contributing to poverty.
Poverty has been a problem in many human societies for centuries and people have had various ways to deal with it. During the 1800s, communities were expected to care for their poor by giving them food, alms and other support. This support could be provided through religious organizations or taxpayer funds, depending on the region. With the advent of the Victorian era there came a change in the way people in poverty were treated and poor houses started to be established in England, spreading from there to other regions of the world.
According to the Victorians, poverty was a sign of moral weakness. People assumed that people lived in poverty only because they didn’t have the moral fiber to better themselves, and poor houses were actually designed as a penal system, although they were touted as places where people in poverty could receive charity. People usually ended up in the poorhouse because they were sentenced to live there, rather than choosing the facility voluntarily, and many poorhouses were run as prisons.
People lived in crowded dormitories, ate limited food, and often had to do grueling work for little or no pay while in the poor house. Workhouses, a related concept, were set up specifically for this purpose, and some poorhouse residents lived on “poorhouses”, working the land in exchange for the services the poorhouse offered. Poor houses were also used to house destitute elderly people when their families refused to care for them, and even some people with mental illnesses were sentenced to hospice instead of receiving psychiatric treatment.
While the prevailing Victorian attitude about poverty was that people were poor only because they lacked moral fortitude, some Victorians spoke out against the concept of the poor house, and many wrote very eloquently about poor house living. Critics have suggested that poor houses were brutal environments that failed to provide support and training for people who could have become productive members of society given the chance. Eventually, the poor housing system began to fade from use, with most communities today providing only temporary shelter to people in poverty, preferring to keep people in their communities with the use of public assistance which helps people find accommodation, pay for food and receive work placements.
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