| Total Paupers aged 65 and over | 401,904 |
| Total Population aged 65 and over | 1,372,900 |
| Paupers per 1,000 | 292 |
Thus of the population of England and Wales aged 65 and over in 1891, one in every three was in receipt of poor relief!
In 1899, and again in 1900, the Local Government Board published returns relating to aged pauperism in those years, and Mr Burt, in 1903, obtained a second return in continuation of that of 1891. We are thus enabled to compare one-day returns for five different periods and this is done in the following table:
PAUPERS, INDOOR AND OUTDOOR, RELIEVED ON CERTAIN DAYS
DURING A PERIOD OF THIRTEEN YEARS (ENGLAND AND WALES ONLY)
| Paupers aged 16 and over. | Paupers aged 65 and over. | Ratio of Paupers 65 and over to total population of that age. (Per Cent.) | |
| 1890 (1 Aug.) | Not known | 245,687 | 18.0 |
| 1892 (1 Jan.) | 471,568 | 268,397 | 19.4 |
| 1899 (1 July) | 469,939 | 278,718 | 18.7 |
| 1900 (1 Jan.) | 494,600 | 286,929 | 19.2 |
| 1903 (1 Sept.) | 490,513 | 284,265 | 18.3 |
[Note.—In the Returns for 1892, 1899 and 1900 the numbers include persons in receipt of relief constructively by reason of relief being given to wives or children. In the Returns for 1890 and 1903 (Mr Burt's returns) such persons are excluded.]
Apart from seasonal changes—the number of paupers is, of course, always higher in the winter than in the summer—it will be seen that the proportion of paupers over 65 years of age to the total population of that age has not varied much. On August 1st, 1890, there were 245,687 paupers of 65 years and upwards, or 18 per cent. of the total population of that age. On September 1st, 1903, there were 284,265 paupers of 65 and upwards, or 18.3 per cent. of the population of that age.
We have only the figures of the 1892 return to throw light upon the number of aged paupers relieved during one year. If we assume that still the same proportion of aged pauperism exists, viz.: 292 in each 1,000, then, in the present year, out of a total population in the United Kingdom aged 65 and upwards of about 2,100,000, as many as 613,200 persons are pauperized.
This number includes both indoor and outdoor paupers, and the ratio of indoor and outdoor paupers varies greatly in different places because of the varying policies of Boards of Guardians. But this point need not detain us. Outdoor relief may in some cases be injudiciously given and in other places most cruelly refused. The fact remains that, taking the country as a whole, we have the clearest evidence of the existence of 613,000 exceedingly poor aged persons.