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Due to an increase in the number of poor, the Poor Law Act was passed in 1601 giving the responsibility of the poor rates to each parish. This caused people to move to parishes that were more generous. As a result, the 1662 Settlement Laws were passed to prevent this from happening. The following requirements were necessary in order to claim legal settlement:

Legal Settlement Legal settlement was the overlying principle of poor relief, the qualifications for which were as follows :- 1.	To be born in a parish of legally settled parent(s) 2.	Up to 1662 by living there for 3 years. After 1662 you could be thrown out within 40 days and after 1691 you had to give 40 days notice before moving in. 3.	Renting property worth more than £10 per annum in the parish or paying taxes on such a property. 4.	Holding a Parish Office. 5.	Being hired by a legally settled inhabitant for a continuous period of 365 days. (most single laborers were hired from the end of Michaelmas week till the beginning of the next Michaelmas so avoiding the grant of legal settlement). By the time you were married, had proved your worth and gained experience then longer hirings were possible therefore changing legal settlement. 6.	Having served a full apprenticeship to a legally settled man for the full 7 years. 7.	Having previously been granted poor relief. This condition implied that you had previously been accepted as being legally settled and was usually only referred to in settlement examinations. 8.	Females changed their legal settlement on marriage, adopting their husbands legal place of settlement. ( If a girl married a certificate man in her own parish and he died, she would automatically be removed to his place of legal settlement along with any issue from the marriage). (1) Without meeting these requirements one could obtain a settlement certificate from their parish. The similarity of the poor law act and settlement agreement of today system is that it put the responsibility of the poor and needy on the individual parishes instead of the larger government. This is similar to what is present today. Each state is responsible for the social services available to the needy as opposed to it being a federal program.

The Elizabethan Poor Law Act of 1601 made better provisions for the poor than the former act of 1552. Elizabethan England - The 1601 Poor Law The Poor Law Act 1601 formalized earlier practices making provision for a National system to be paid for by levying property taxes. The 1601 Poor Law act made provision to: 9.	To levy a compulsory poor rate on every parish 10.	To provide working materials 11.	Provide work or apprenticeships for children who were orphaned or whose parents were unable to support them 12.	Offer relief to the 'Deserving Poor' 13.	Collect a poor relief rate from property owners 14.	Parents and children were responsible for each other, so poor elderly parents were expected to live with their children (2)

The poor law was radically following the great reform act of 1834. The main difference was that the relief of the poor was changed from a local responsibility into a group one. Groups of parishes were consolidated into Poor Law Unions so removing the local community responsibility. Out relief was discouraged and the workhouses, which had been in existence for the previous two centuries, became the primary source of relief. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century the laws were tightened and modified until the administration was transferred to the Ministry of Health in 1918. It was not until 1930 that the poor laws were finally abolished. (3)

The problem with the poor laws was that it did not offer long-term security to those in need. Much like human services programs of today the future of programs such as social security and health care are unclear. The reform act of 1834 brought it back to a national issues rather than a local responsibility.

Sources:

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/settle.html

Elizabethan-era.org.uk/the-poor-law.html

Mdlp.co.uk/resources/general/poor-law.html