How far were the problems of poverty in England successfully addressed during Elizabeth's reign?

Elizabeth’s government during the late Sixteenth Century had a lot of harvest failures and socioeconomic issues to contend with, including harvest failure, resultant food riots and outbreaks of disease. These affected the poor of the country the most and Elizabeth’s government addressed these issues through laws and acts that were enforced with the aim of creating a coherent framework for poor relief. The 1572 Vagabonds Act enforced a rule that meant that the Justice of the Peace of each parish had to keep a register of the poor in their area and raise a ‘poor rate’ to provide shelter for the poor and the sick. This shows one way in which Elizabethan administration addressed the issue of poverty. Following on from this, amongst other acts, was the 1598 Poor Law. This law required the appointment of ‘overseers of the poor’ to ensure the collection of poor rates and appropriate distribution. As well as the clear efforts made by the government to support the poor, the failure of the Oxfordshire ‘rising’ of 1596 shows that Elizabethan efforts to address the problems of poverty were successful. The lack of support for the potential ‘rebellion’ that saw only four people take up arms against London and the Queen showed that policies put in place by Elizabeth’s government in support of the poor helped those living in poverty. John Guy describes the mid-1590s as an era of ‘turmoil’ because of price rises, disease and crop failure but the lack of popular action suggests otherwise. Therefore it can be said that problems of poverty were successfully addressed during Elizabeth’s reign.