A Statistical Study of Poor Relief in Massachusetts

Abstract

Statistics relating to the nature and extent of poor relief have been compiled with far greater thoroughness in England than in America.' The central government of the United Kingdom gathers statistics of the number of paupers in institutions and also of the number in receipt of outdoor relief. Not only is there no central body of our federal government which collects statistics on poor relief, but in a large number of states not even figures are available for all the counties. In England and in Wales the total public expenditure for the support of the poor is also carefully ascertained annually, while in this country only a few of the states gather statistics relating to the amount expended from the public funds for the relief of the poor.' The field for historical investigation of poor relief in the United States is therefore limited to a few of the older states where records have been kept for a considerable period of years. It is the purpose of this study to discover if possible any tendencies relating to the nature and extent of poor relief in Massachusetts, where statistics relating thereto are available for a period of over fifty years, and incidentally to investigate the methods employed in recording the data bearing upon this subject. Questions at once arise as to the percentage of the population of Massachusetts dependent upon public relief; the age, sex, and nationality of the recipients; the nature of the relief given; and the cost involved. Trends and analyses of the variability of these factors over a period of years may be expected to indicate significant aspects of the historical development of poor relief in Massachusetts. By attempting correlations of the percentage of the population in receipt of relief with such measures of business conditions as bank clearings or commercial failures, and average wages, we may still further investigate this problem of poverty. The number per thousand of the population which received public relief during the years 1892 to 1920 is shown in Table I.2 Vagrants, the insane, and the feebleminded are intended to be excluded from this enumeration, but owing to imperfect methods of classification and to differences in diagnosis this exclusion is incomplete. Previous to the