Editing Unemployment (section)

===16th century===

The closing of the [[monastery|monasteries]] in the 1530s increased [[poverty]], as the [[Roman Catholic Church]] had helped the poor. In addition, there was a significant rise in [[enclosures]] during the [[Tudor period]]. Also, the population was rising. Those unable to find work had a stark choice: starve or break the law. In 1535, a bill was drawn up calling for the creation of a system of [[public works]] to deal with the problem of unemployment, which were to be funded by a tax on income and capital. A law that was passed a year later allowed vagabonds to be whipped and hanged.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.localhistories.org/poortudors.html |title=Poor Tudors |publisher=Localhistories.org |access-date=22 July 2009}}</ref>

In 1547, a bill was passed that subjected vagrants to some of the more extreme provisions of the criminal law: two years' servitude and branding with a "V" as the penalty for the first offense and death for the second.<ref>R. O. Bucholz, Newton Key, Early modern England, 1485–1714, p176</ref> During the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed.<ref>"[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html History of the Death Penalty]". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).</ref> In the 1576 Act, each town was required to provide work for the unemployed.<ref>"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/poverty_01.shtml Poverty in Elizabethan England]". BBC&nbsp;– History.</ref>

The [[Poor Relief Act 1601]], one of the world's first government-sponsored welfare programs, made a clear distinction between those who were unable to work and those able-bodied people who refused employment.<ref>"[http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/crocus/library/social_classes_in_shakespeare.htm#Poor Social Classes in Shakespeare's England]" {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316162145/http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/crocus/library/social_classes_in_shakespeare.htm#Poor |date=16 March 2010 }}</ref> Under the [[Poor Law]] systems of [[English Poor Laws|England and Wales]], [[Scottish Poor Laws|Scotland]] and [[Irish Poor Laws|Ireland]], a [[workhouse]] was a place people unable to support themselves could go to live and work.<ref>"[http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/historyf.htm British social policy, 1601–1948] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630115443/http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/historyf.htm |date=30 June 2007 }}", The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.</ref>