poor law

American  

noun

1. a law or system of laws providing for the relief or support of poor people at public expense.

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poor law British  

noun

1. English history a law providing for the relief or support of the poor from public, esp parish, funds

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Etymology

Origin of poor law

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

It reminds one of how Charles Dickens, in response to Britain’s 19th-century Poor Law, an amendment to earlier poor laws, that required the poor to live in purposely unpleasant workhouses, wrote “Oliver Twist.”

From Salon

She was elected to the Nantwich Board of Guardians, who administered the poor law, and also travelled around the country speaking for the ILP.

From BBC

Corruption, poor law enforcement and armed conflict have left West and Central Africa vulnerable to international criminals and made the region a hotbed of ivory and pangolin scale trafficking to Asia in recent years.

From Reuters

Diana Arias, who started the petition, wrote that “domestic violence is a serious concern for everyone” and Harwick “was murdered as a result of poor laws not protecting the victims and treating the offenders.”

From Los Angeles Times

Dickens was not the only writer to expose the horrors of the poor laws.

From Salon