Just Surviving - Poor Relief in the Dutch Town of Schiedam in the First Half of the 19th Century: Incidence, Duration and Level of Support

Abstract

The paper analyses poor relief in the town of Schiedam in the first half of the 19th century. Figures about the total number of people receiving poor relief in Schiedam are only available between 1823 and 1831 indicating that about 15 per cent of the population was supported. This is somewhat higher than the national average, but lower than for instance in Amsterdam where 25 per cent of the population was supported. A considerable number of people was only in poor relief during the winter period. Probably, many of the latter people were confronted with seasonal unemployment. In terms of ‘full-time recipients’ of poor relief approximately 10 per cent of the Schiedam population received support. Not every poor family was supported. The incidence of poverty according to 19th century standards was at least twice as high as the number of people in poor relief. Although the labour market was highly ‘flexible’ and poor relief was very low compared to wages, the level of unemployment was probably of similar size as it is, on average, in recent decades. It appears that even in a highly flexible labour market with strong incentives to accept work, a considerable group of people was unable to participate in the labour market or did so only marginally. Making the labour market highly flexible does not seem to provide a solution for high unemployment among vulnerable groups, although it is a recipe that can still be heard today.The Schiedam archive contains books with data on individual recipients, which enabled us to construct a longitudinal database. Only individual data about people who were supported during the whole year is available. Both the level of the weekly support as well as the duration of the support are included in the database. Furthermore, information about several characteristics of the recipient is available like age, gender, family composition, physical disability and mental disability. Econometric models have been used to relate both and the duration the level of the support to these characteristics. For the analysis of individuals spells of poor relief duration models are used. Several characteristics of recipients have a significant effect on the duration of the support given. This is also true for the level of support, which has been analysed with the help of panel data models. Particularly, a mental handicap has a large upward effect on both duration and level of support. Contrary to what is sometimes suggested, people were usually not supported during their whole life. Mean duration in poor relief is approximately seven years. Repeated spells of poor relief were hardly found, although this might have been different for people who were only supported during the winter period.