Physical Form
In physical form, and owing in part to the antiquity of their formation, almshouses are often very dated buildings comprising multiple small terraced houses or apartments, and providing accommodation for small numbers of residents; some 2,600 almshouses continue to be operated in the UK, providing 30,000 dwellings for 36,000 people. In the Netherlands, a number of hofjes are still functioning as accommodation for elderly people (mostly women). The economics of almshouses takes the form of the provision of subsidised accommodation, often integrated with social care resources such as wardens. The basis for modern civil almshouses and workhouses came into being in 1597 when the English Poor Laws were enacted. These institutions underwent various population, program, and name changes, but by 1900 the elderly made up 85 percent of the population in these institutions (Day 2009).
Read more about this topic: Almshouse
Famous quotes containing the words physical and/or form:
“Theory may be deliberate, as in a chapter on chemistry, or it may be second nature, as in the immemorial doctrine of ordinary enduring middle-sized physical objects.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“The most absurd apology for authority and law is that they serve to diminish crime. Aside from the fact that the State is itself the greatest criminal, breaking every written and natural law, stealing in the form of taxes, killing in the form of war and capital punishment, it has come to an absolute standstill in coping with crime. It has failed utterly to destroy or even minimize the horrible scourge of its own creation.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)