In 1834 a new Poor Law was introduced. Some people were happy about it because they believed it would:

• reduce the cost of looking after the poor
• take beggars off the streets
• encourage poor people to work hard to support themselves

The new Poor Law made sure that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. In return for this care, all workhouse inmates would have to work for several hours each day.

Some people fought against the new Poor Law. They called the workhouses ‘Prisons for the Poor’.

The poor hated and feared the threat of the workhouse so much that there were riots in northern towns.