History Of Social Policies

Social policies are policies that are aimed at making the community a better place to live in. They focus on the main issues that affect the wellbeing of a community. The policies try to find solutions to these questions and tries fix them so as to achieve a moral society. Some of the major issues that are covered in social policies include poverty, health, education and gender equality. The United States has been leading in social systems. It has seen the development of social policies in different historical periods. Some of the early social issues that saw the emergence of social policies include the 16th century Highland Problem in Scotland and the worldwide spread slavery during and the Cold War after 1945. Since then, various governments and non-governmental bodies have been actively involved in solving some of the major social issues. This involves organizing resources so as to meet and address the different needs of the various groups in the society. The history of such actions in the society is very rich and has a very exact path that leads to the development of the community.

The poor law

This is the oldest social policy that is known in the world. It was a well fare to help the poor people in the society. This policy was a voluntary movement by the Christian community and mutual provision. Later on, the British government started supporting the movement. This program was meant to help the poor. It made it possible for them to survive in the cities. This law or informal organization lasted for over three hundred years in Britain. Before the policy, the poor were seen as a threat that could spread diseases to the city. The Christian community sought to help the poor and fight the discrimination. They organized systems to offer relief to the poor. This, however, was a move for them to control the poor and keep them in the city as they still feared they might spread diseases if they moved to the towns.

Settlement and Removal

With time, many policies were formed. Church parishes were left in control of the policies. It was, however, difficult to mainstream the implementation and there existed a lot of inconsistency in how the policies were implemented in different parts. In some areas, there were settlement laws. The poor were not allowed to seek help outside their parish or areas of settlement. This was a bad move as many parishes started moving pregnant women so as to give birth to other parishes. Parishes began shifting settlements so as to shift the burden.