“The problems of urban poverty drove social reform in Victorian Britain.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

The question requires that candidates consider the merits or otherwise of the statement that social reforms in Victorian Britain were driven mainly by urban poverty. Candidates may identify examples of social reform in Victorian Britain as a starting point and consider the extent to which urban poverty stimulated these reforms. These may include acts to regulate working hours in factories/shops (Factory Acts of 1833 and 1847), to increase the quality of urban housing and end homelessness (Artisans’ Dwellings Act,1875) or to improve infrastructure and public health (Local Government Act, 1861). Other factors that stimulated social reform may include religious conscience, for example Shaftesbury’s Coal Mines Act (1842). Improved conditions in the industrialized towns of the North were often driven by civic pride.