How Victorian Workhouses Changed Charity

Protestantism at work.

Poverty has always been a complex challenge, but our views on it have evolved dramatically over time. For centuries, poverty was seen as a fact of life, with charity considered a moral duty. However, the Early Modern period introduced ideas linking poverty to laziness, fueled by religious shifts like Calvinism and economic upheaval. Join us as we explore Victorian England and how the English Poor Laws were aimed to help the "deserving poor," only to be overwhelmed by industrialization and urbanization. Evolving these laws into the infamous 19th-century workhouse system—meant to aid the poor but often dehumanizing in practice.