How important were formalized charity and social spending before the rise of the welfare state? A long‐run analysis of selected westernEuropean cases, 1400–1850

Abstract

Poor relief in the pre-industrial period is a much-investigated topic, but we still lack an idea of its quantitative importance and development, especially in a comparative perspective. This article estimates the magnitude of the various kinds of formalized relief for three present-day countries (Italy, England, and the Netherlands) in the very long run (1400-1850). The results show that in this period a substantial share of GDP, up to 3 per cent, could be spent on formal relief, offering subsistence to up to 8-9 per cent of the population, with a gradual rise over time and the highest figures being reached in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century. The three cases show a steep decline around 1800, a pattern found more generally in Europe. Next, these results are placed in a broader geographical perspective. This highlights the sharp differences within countries-which could be even larger than those between countries-and the high levels reached in the regions bordering the southern shores of the North Sea. In the last section, the results are used to discuss the possible causes underlying these long-run patterns and geographical differences, including urbanization, wealth, religion, and social-organizational features.

Fertility versus productivity: a model of growth with evolutionary equilibria

“…Such payments might be imposed to finance the operation of the 1601 and 1834 Poor Laws, but also might be paid directly by the working family for aged and infirm dependents. In the medieval period, one fourth to one third of the tithe was theoretically meant for the poor (van Bavel and Rijpma 2016;Tierney 1959).…”

Economic Development in Africa and Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons

“…The growth of specialised industrial and service sectors can be seen to have proceeded faster in Holland and Britain than in the rest of Europe. By 1600, the release of labour from agriculture had proceeded further in the Netherlands than in the rest of Europe, as the Dutch economy relied increasingly on imports of basic agricultural products such as grain and paid for them with exports of higher value-added products (de Vries and van der Woude 1997). By 1700, the share of the labour force engaged in agriculture was even smaller in England, where a highly commercialised agriculture produced enough grain to feed the population without recourse to substantial imports until well into the 19 th century (Deane and Cole 1967; Crafts 1985).…”

“…6-11), while other studies have made use of estimates of income and price elasticities of demand from later developing countries to work out food consumption trends in pre-industrial Europe (Álvarez-Nogal and Prados de la Escosura 2013; Kelly andÓ Gráda 2013, p. 1139;Broadberry et al 2015b). Others have drawn on the experience of African countries now or in the past to understand the implications of similar events or phenomena in Europe, such as, for example, the history of slavery (Fenoaltea 1999) or witchcraft trials (Thomas 1971). Inspired by these examples, we explore survey and experimental data from Africa today in search of insights into the dynamics of institutional change in pre-industrial Europe.…”

A long-term perspective on the development experience of emerging and industrialised economies

“…The supply of social services by the state and by the urban communities also lagged behind. The rise of liberal economic ideas also led to cuts in social expenditure, reform of poor laws, and probably a reduction in social transfers (Lindert, 2004;van Bavel and Rijpma, 2016). The period lasting from 1840 to 1870 also saw a general liberalisation in economic matters, including internationally.…”