Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Old Age Pensions and the Aged Poor: A Proposal
In a previous volume* I brought together such facts as I had been able to collect as to the condition of the Aged Poor in England and Tales and I promised to deal later with proposals for their relief. Meanwhile, we have had the Report of the Royal Commission on the subject, and also that of a Committee of the House of Lords appointed with the Special object of carrying the question to a more definite conclusion. These reports yield only a negative result in so far as they neither approve of any of the schemes submitted, nor themselves suggest any other as more practical but, on the other hand, both reports recog nize the existence of a state of things which still cries for remedy.
More recently Bills for the establishment of pensions in old age have been presented to Parliament, and [on more than one occasion have been carried by large majorities on second reading while the question of cost has been referred to and reported on by an important departmental committee representing the Government offices chie?y concerned in any such contemplated measures; the heavy cost being regarded as the main obstacle, and by many as the only objection, to these proposals.
In the present volume (first published in 1899) I brie?y recapitulate the facts and sketch the measure I should myself suggest.
The work above referred to concluded with a summary of the facts and deductions therefrom, and part of this I ven ture to repeat by way of introduction to the present volume.
The Aged Poor: Condition. Macmillan, 1894. J l! B r l, l i. Inf).
The census of 1891 counted (in round numbers) men and women of 65 years of age and upwards in England and Wales, or in all. Of these no less than men and women lived in districts where from 20 per cent. To 35 per cent. Of the old were returned as having had parish relief to some extent in the year ending Lady Day, 1892. Of the remainder, men and women lived in districts where the propor tion receiving relief was less than 20 per cent., and men and women lived in districts where the pro portion receiving relief was more than 35 per cent. Or, to carry this analysis still further, the number of persons over 65 years of age in Unions with less than 10 per cent. Of old age pauperism was in 1891-2 under while the number where the proportion is over 50 per cent. Was nearly the remainder belonging to Unions with more than 10 and less than 50 per cent. Of old age pauperism. The average all round rate is per cent.
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