What did the workhouses of 19th century britain say about the social attitudes and economic conditions of the time?

The workhouses were feared and hated by the poor. They were meant to be as unpleasant as possible to deter poor people from asking the state for help. Married couples were separated and children over 7 were separated from their parents. The inmates were made to do hard work like breaking stones to make roads or breaking bones to make fertilizer.

The poor called the new workhouses 'bastilles' (after the infamous prison in Paris) and they caused much bitterness. However during the 19th century workhouses gradually became more humane.