The workhouse test was a condition of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.
It stated that anyone who wanted to get poor relief must enter a workhouse.
[1] The intended purpose was to make the workhouses as undesirable as possible so that people would look for work elsewhere before attempting to receive indoor relief.
[2] The "test" itself was, in essence, were the people who wanted relief desperate enough to enter the workhouse, despite the conditions.
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