Elizabethan England / 1558-1603
Elizabethan England: Causes of Poverty
Poverty grew because more people needed work while prices, land use, and trade all changed.
What To Remember
- Population growth made it harder for people to find work and food.
- Inflation and food shortages meant families had to spend more just to survive.
- Enclosure and trade problems, especially with the Netherlands, made unemployment worse.
Population and prices
The population rose by about 35 percent, from roughly 2.9 million to 4 million by 1599, so more people needed jobs and food.
Food shortages pushed prices up, which hit poor families hardest because they spent most of their money on food.
Town life became more crowded, and the poor were more visible when they searched for work.
Farming and trade problems
Enclosure and sheep farming meant some people lost access to land and had to look for work elsewhere.
When trade was bad, especially because of conflict with Spain and the Netherlands, more people became unemployed or wandered in search of work.
These pressures turned poverty into a much bigger national problem.
Revision Prompt
What were the main causes of poverty in Elizabethan England?