The organisation aimed to support poor young women and girls in London, prevent girls from becoming prostitutes, criminals or
alcoholics, and provide a steady supply of
domestic servants. The
Poor Law had led to large numbers of children being taken from their families by the authorities and raised in
workhouses and Poor Law schools. Children were discharged from these institutions at age 14 to survive as best they could; this practice led to severe social problems, as unqualified children turned to crime and prostitution. and by the 1890s MABYS had over 1,000 volunteers, and was processing applications for employment from over 7,000 girls per year, or become unsettled by relatives, who would often attempt to remove the children. Jane Nassau Senior, with the support of
Thomas John Barnardo, had lobbied for MABYS, and similar bodies, to be automatically made guardians until the age of 20 for any child who had been in Poor Law care for over five years. In 1948 the
National Assistance Act abolished the Poor Law, and responsibility for education and training was brought under the control of the state. ==Notes and references==