A form of poorhouse in early America.  They were designed to help people who were unable to help themselves, in the sense that they could not work for some reason and/or had no one else to care for them.  “Outdoor poor,” as Isaac Hopper refers to it, was a form of relief for poor people who were living outside the poorhouses.  Aid was provided to them while they were living with friends or relatives as it was determined to be far less strain on the government to have them living outside the poorhouses.  This limited the number of people crowding the poorhouses which previously caused disease to spread rampantly.  Though the amount of aid available differed from area to area, the “outdoor relief” of qualifying people provided them a great service.  It became a more socially acceptable solution to unsanitary poorhouses as economic depressions and unemployment fluctuated.¹  Outdoor relief was far less expensive and limited the amount of aid required from donors.  Poorhouses required nearly double the amount of money that outdoor relief did per person.²  In response to the conditions of poorhouses in 1857 the New York Senate Committee to Visit Charitable and Penal Institutions wrote in their annual report, “During the past year the number of deaths in these fifty-five poor houses was 770. Such a great mortality as this number indicates, should arrest the public attention.”  They go on to report that they find outdoor relief to be a

“more efficient and economical auxiliary in supporting the poor.” 

 Without having to house the poor they were supporting economically, they could provide more relief and save on the maintenance of the poorhouse.  The committee concluded that the success of the outdoor relief system in New York City should serve as a model for the rest of the state.³  

Sources:

1. Hansan, J.E. (2011). Poor relief in early America. Retrieved March 3, 2019 from /programs/poor-relief/.

2. Department of Social Services, Annual Report of the New York State Board of Social Welfare and the New York State Department of Social Services, S. 1903, at 791 (N.Y. ). Accessed March 4, 2019.

3. Rothman, David J. The Discovery of the Asylum. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1971.