What is the essence of the Poor Law?

In 1834, England passed the Poor Law, after which the social assistance system was centralized. Cash and food benefits have been abolished. Institutions called workhouses opened everywhere, charities aimed at forced isolation and stimulation to work: petty criminals, needy, beggars. Persons who could get into the above institutions tried to avoid this because when they got there they had to do meaningless work, the food ration there was all small, and sometimes it consisted of spoiled products such as rotten meat.