IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ehsrev/v79y2026i2p717-756.html

The new poor law and the health of the population of England and Wales

Author

Listed:
  • David Green
  • Gabriel Mesevage
  • Graham Mooney
  • Simon Szreter

Abstract

We estimate the impact of reductions in poor law expenditure on rural life expectancy and mortality rates in England and Wales following the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. Given the scale of cuts imposed, our estimates imply 8–10 per cent increases in mortality at ages 1–4 years and 2–4 per cent falls in rural expectation of life at birth. This is consistent with the reformers’ policy of reducing child allowances for larger families. These results help to explain the weak performance of national mid‐nineteenth century life expectancy measures during a period of rising real wages but falling welfare expenditure.

Suggested Citation

  • David Green & Gabriel Mesevage & Graham Mooney & Simon Szreter, 2026. "The new poor law and the health of the population of England and Wales," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 79(2), pages 717-756, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:79:y:2026:i:2:p:717-756
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.70035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.70035
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ehr.70035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
    2. Boyer,George R., 1990. "An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521364799.
    3. J. D. Marshall, 1961. "The Nottinghamshire Reformers And Their Contribution To The New Poor Law," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 13(3), pages 382-396, April.
    4. TokeS. Aidt & Martin Daunton & Jayasri Dutta, 2010. "The Retrenchment Hypothesis and the Extension of the Franchise in England and Wales," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 990-1020, September.
    5. repec:cup:jechis:v:24:y:1964:i:02:p:229-245_06 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Andreas Olden & Jarle Møen, 2022. "The triple difference estimator [Semiparametric difference-in-differences estimators]," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 25(3), pages 531-553.
    7. Romola J. Davenport, 2020. "Urbanization and mortality in Britain, c. 1800–50," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(2), pages 455-485, May.
    8. Carpenter, Bob & Gelman, Andrew & Hoffman, Matthew D. & Lee, Daniel & Goodrich, Ben & Betancourt, Michael & Brubaker, Marcus & Guo, Jiqiang & Li, Peter & Riddell, Allen, 2017. "Stan: A Probabilistic Programming Language," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 76(i01).
    9. Romola J. Davenport, 2021. "Nineteenth‐century mortality trends: a reply to Szreter and Mooney," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1096-1110, November.
    10. Ewout Depauw & Deborah Oxley, 2019. "Toddlers, teenagers, and terminal heights: the importance of puberty for male adult stature, Flanders, 1800–76," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(3), pages 925-952, August.
    11. Fogel, Robert W. & Grotte, Nathaniel, 2011. "Major Findings from The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 1-9.
    12. Cinnirella, Francesco, 2008. "Optimists or pessimists? A reconsideration of nutritional status in Britain, 1740–1865," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 325-354, December.
    13. Peter M. Solar, 1995. "Poor relief and English economic development before the industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-22, February.
    14. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "Simple approaches to nonlinear difference-in-differences with panel data," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(3), pages 31-66.
    15. James J. Heckman, 2007. "The Economics, Technology and Neuroscience of Human Capability Formation," NBER Working Papers 13195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Kelly, Morgan & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2013. "Numerare Est Errare: Agricultural Output and Food Supply in England Before and During the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(4), pages 1132-1163, December.
    17. McCloskey, Donald N., 1973. "New perspectives on the old poor law," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 419-436.
    18. Feinstein, Charles H., 1998. "Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain during and after the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 625-658, September.
    19. Davenport, Romola Jane & Satchell, Max & Shaw-Taylor, Leigh Matthew William, 2018. "The geography of smallpox in England before vaccination: A conundrum resolved," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 75-85.
    20. Jonas Schöley & José Manuel Aburto & Ilya Kashnitsky & Maxi S. Kniffka & Luyin Zhang & Hannaliis Jaadla & Jennifer B. Dowd & Ridhi Kashyap, 2022. "Life expectancy changes since COVID-19," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(12), pages 1649-1659, December.
    21. Nicholas Crafts & Terence C. Mills, 2017. "Six centuries of British economic growth: a time-series perspective," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 21(2), pages 141-158.
    22. Lindert, Peter H., 1998. "Poor relief before the Welfare State: Britain versus the Continent, 1780–1880," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 101-140, August.
    23. Rachael Meager, 2019. "Understanding the Average Impact of Microcredit Expansions: A Bayesian Hierarchical Analysis of Seven Randomized Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 57-91, January.
    24. Morgan Kelly & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2014. "Living standards and mortality since the middle ages," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(2), pages 358-381, May.
    25. J. A. Hassan, 1985. "The Growth and Impact of the British Water Industry in the Nineteenth Century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 38(4), pages 531-547, November.
    26. Eric Melander & Martina Miotto, 2023. "Welfare Cuts and Crime: Evidence from the New Poor Law," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(651), pages 1248-1264.
    27. Vellore Arthi & Brian Beach & W. Walker Hanlon, 2022. "Recessions, Mortality, and Migration Bias: Evidence from the Lancashire Cotton Famine," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 228-255, April.
    28. Roderick Floud & Robert W. Fogel & Bernard Harris & Sok Chul Hong, 2011. "The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number foge10-1, May.
    29. Björn Quanjer, 2024. "Height and the disease environment of children: The association between mortality and height in the Netherlands 1850–1940," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(2), pages 391-415, May.
    30. Boyer, George R, 1989. "Malthus Was Right after All: Poor Relief and Birth Rates in Southeastern England," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(1), pages 93-114, February.
    31. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    32. W. A. Armstrong, 1981. "The Trend of Mortality in Carlisle between the 1780s and the 1840s: A Demographic Contribution to the Standard of Living Debate," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 34(1), pages 94-114, February.
    33. Simon Szreter & Graham Mooney, 2021. "Scarlet fever and nineteenth‐century mortality trends: a reply to Romola Davenport," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1087-1095, November.
    34. Meager, Rachael, 2019. "Understanding the average impact of microcredit expansions: a Bayesian hierarchical analysis of seven randomized experiments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88190, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    35. Robert W. Fogel & Nathaniel Grotte, 2011. "An Overview of The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World Since 1700," NBER Working Papers 16938, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. repec:cup:jechis:v:23:y:1963:i:02:p:151-184_10 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Ian Gazeley & Sara Horrell, 2013. "Nutrition in the English agricultural labourer's household over the course of the long nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 66(3), pages 757-784, August.
    38. Simon Szreter & Graham Mooney, 1998. "Urbanization, Mortality, and the Standard of Living Debate: New Estimates of the Expectation of Life at Birth in Nineteenth-century British Cities," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 51(1), pages 84-112, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luque de Haro, Víctor Antonio, 2024. "Social inequalities in adult mortality across Europe (18th-21st centuries): A critical analysis of theories and evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. Ramon Ramon-Muñoz & Josep-Maria Ramon-Muñoz, 2024. "The urban–rural height gap: evidence from late nineteenth-century Catalonia," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 18(1), pages 103-149, January.
    3. Blum, Matthias & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2019. "Living standards and inequality in the industrial revolution: Evidence from the height of University of Edinburgh students in the 1830s," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 185-192.
    4. Schneider, Eric B., 2021. "The effect of nutritional status on historical infectious disease morbidity: evidence from the London Foundling Hospital, 1892-1919," Economic History Working Papers 111030, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    5. José Joaquín García-Gómez & Antonio Escudero Gutierrez, 2018. "The Standard of Living of the Workers in a Spanish Industrial Town: Wages, Nutrition, Life Expentancy and Heigth in Alcoy (1870–1930)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 347-367, November.
    6. repec:ehl:lserod:111030 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Gregory Clark & Marianne E. Page, 2019. "Welfare reform, 1834: Did the New Poor Law in England produce significant economic gains?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(2), pages 221-244, May.
    8. Galofré-Vilà, Gregori, 2018. "Growth and maturity: A quantitative systematic review and network analysis in anthropometric history," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 107-118.
    9. Gallardo Albarrán, Daniel, 2024. "The Global Sanitary Revolution in Historical Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 18754, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    10. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    11. Leigh Shaw‐Taylor, 2020. "An introduction to the history of infectious diseases, epidemics and the early phases of the long‐run decline in mortality," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Michail Raftakis, 2023. "Urban mortality in Greece: Hermoupolis (1859–1940)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 728-758, August.
    13. Horrell, Sara & Humphries, Jane & Sneath, Ken, 2015. "Consumption conundrums unravelled," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101311, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Eric B. Schneider, 2025. "The determinants of child stunting and shifts in the growth pattern of children: A long‐run, global review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 405-452, April.
    15. Kota Ogasawara & Ian Gazeley & Eric B. Schneider, 2020. "Nutrition, Crowding, And Disease Among Low‐Income Households In Tokyo In 1930," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 73-104, March.
    16. Bernard Harris, 2021. "Anthropometric history and the measurement of wellbeing," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 91-123.
    17. Ian Gazeley & Sara Horrell, 2013. "Nutrition in the English agricultural labourer's household over the course of the long nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 66(3), pages 757-784, August.
    18. Matthias Blum & Christopher L. Colvin & Eoin McLaughlin, 2026. "Scarring and Selection in the Great Irish Famine," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 79(1), pages 189-220, February.
    19. Gazeley, Ian & Verdon, Nicola, 2014. "The first poverty line? Davies' and Eden's investigation of rural poverty in the late 18th-century England," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 94-108.
    20. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Daniel Lasso-Jaramillo, 2023. "Gender height dimorphism: An approximation of the living Standards in Colombia, 1920-1990," Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association, Asociación Española de Historia Económica, vol. 19(02), pages 124-139.
    21. Morgan Kelly & Joel Mokyr & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2014. "Precocious Albion: A New Interpretation of the British Industrial Revolution," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 363-389, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:79:y:2026:i:2:p:717-756. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ehsukea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.