Poor law

Poor law was a law from hundreds of years ago that said if you didn't have enough money to take care of yourself, towns and cities had to help you. If you were poor, you could get a place to live, food, clothes and money from the town or city. The town or city had to help you even if they didn't have enough money. That's why it was called the poor law - it was a law that said towns and cities had to help poor people.