The aged poor

According to our foundation document the Maison Dieu was intended to house 13 poor men and 13 poor women who were "feeble or old", as an old translation renders the Latin "debilium sive senum".  Google translate now prefers "elderly or infirm".  The "or" is interesting, suggesting that the infirm need not be old.  However, the interpretation seems always to have been that the institution was to house the aged poor.  Thousands of similar almshouses were founded for the same demographic from at least as early as the 11th century.

Those who could no longer earn their own living were always expected to fall back on savings or on the charity of their relatives.  But the poorest have no savings and their relatives, if they have any, are often not in a position to house and feed them.  Charitable institutions were for centuries the only recourse for those whom society regarded as redundant, who were not economically active and who literally didn't count because they were not included in whatever population statistics were occasionally produced.  The "dissolution of the monasteries" in the 1530s wiped out a major provision of care for those in need.  The almshouses which survived were those which, although attached to religious establishments, were endowed as separate foundations, like the Charterhouse, or were founded by trade guilds (e.g. Trinity House in Hull) or private individuals.  

In the Elizabethan period a new "welfare" system was set up based on the parish as the administrative unit.  Local property owners paid a levy, or rate, which the vestry committees then disbursed to those in need.  Nobody wanted to go "on the parish" (a phrase still occasionally heard in the mid-20th century) but if they were granted "parish relief" they were classed as paupers and granted an allowance at subsistence level.  Workhouses or Charity Halls were set up for those of all ages who could not provide accommodation for themselves; these did not carry quite the stigma they were later to acquire.  At the same time the number of almshouses increased, especially for the aged poor, giving dignity and security to the elderly in need.

For various reasons the welfare system had to be reformed by the 19th century.  The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Acts resulted in an explicitly punitive system under which the aged poor suffered more than most.  Couples who had been together for many years were split up in the workhouses.  What was known as out-relief - the payment of an allowance whilst not having to enter the workhouse - was supposed to be forbidden but was quite common in some areas, as the censuses show.  But it is also common to see men well into their 70s listed as working in various trades.  Clearly many struggled to earn a living far into old age in order to avoid the workhouse.  We have a good example in Richard Haworth, whose begging letters to a Hull acquaintance survive.  Richard, living in London, tried to earn a living as a clerk, apparently on a casual basis, until he was over 80, but couldn't make ends meet and for some years had to borrow money from his better-off friends, money he never repaid.  The long-suffering Samuel Lightfoot reluctantly stumped up the cash until, in December 1861, Richard was awarded a room in the Charterhouse, for the third time of asking, at the age of 82.  He died a year later.

Almshouses provided more than accommodation.  Some, like the London Charterhouse, provided meals as well, as it still does.  The rest gave a weekly allowance of money and fuel.  In our Charterhouse the  fuel was coal and turfs.  The allowances could be varied to take inflation into account, although often there was a lag, a delay in raising the payments, which caused hardship.
The 20th century brought huge social changes which improved the circumstances of the "aged poor".  First came the old age pension in 1909, which was a life-line for many, enabling them to stay in their own homes.  Just as important, the pension was a right, not charity.  The concept of "social security" (not "welfare") gave dignity to millions.  But it caused complications for almshouses, which had to try to take into account what pension income and, later, rent allowances, people were receiving.  They could find themselves paying very different allowances to all their residents.
The early part of the century also saw the beginning of council housing, supplementing the provision by housing trusts and establishing an increasing stock of cheap, decent and secure homes.  This was supplemented from mid-century by council-owned residential care for those who couldn't cope in their own homes.  This enabled almshouses to stop providing nursing care.  But in some cases, including at the Charterhouse, it led to an apparent eagerness to pass time-consuming residents on to the care of councils.  
The financial complications were finally sorted out at the Charterhouse in 1962 with a revision of the Scheme of Governance which ended the payment of allowances; instead, residents would pay 5/- per week “towards the cost of maintaining the Charterhouse”, and pay for their own fuel and lighting. The scheme came into effect on 1 April 1962, and the National Assistance Board was asked to

interview residents to consider their needs. The Board reported back that everyone was catered

for, but the weekly charge for fuel was set at 7/6d a week rather than the full amount.

From the 1962 scheme

The 20th century changes meant an end to the huge waiting lists for almshouse accommodation, although there was always sufficient demand to justify their existence.  And in the 21st century that demand is rising again.  New almshouses are being built in several parts of the country, with charitable organisations again supplying what the state is failing to provide.