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The Conversation
The Conversation
Simon Szreter, Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge

How Elizabethan law once protected the poor from the high cost of living – and led to unrivalled economic prosperity

Elizabeth I in procession, circa 1600. Wikimedia Commons

In the closing years of Elizabeth I’s reign, England saw the emergence of arguably the world’s first effective welfare state. Laws were established which successfully protected people from rises in food prices.

More than 400 years later, in the closing years of Elizabeth II’s reign, the UK once again faces perilous spikes in living costs. Perhaps today’s government could learn something from its legislative ancestors.

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