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How important were formalized charity and social spending before the rise of the welfare state? A long‐run analysis of selected western E uropean cases, 1400–1850
Author(s) -
Bavel Bas,
Rijpma Auke
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/ehr.12111
Subject(s) - subsistence agriculture , urbanization , population , perspective (graphical) , period (music) , welfare , welfare state , economic geography , demographic economics , development economics , geography , economy , economics , political science , economic growth , demography , sociology , market economy , politics , archaeology , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science , acoustics , law , agriculture
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 ( I taly, E ngland, and the N etherlands) 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 N etherlands in the eighteenth century. The three cases show a steep decline around 1800, a pattern found more generally in E urope. 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 N orth S ea. 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.