The idea that help should be worse than the lowest paid life outside.
Cruelty was built into the policy.
Less eligibility meant conditions inside the workhouse should be worse than the poorest conditions outside, to discourage dependency.
For disabled and neurodivergent people, this could mean being punished for needs they could not simply work their way out of.
Awareverse rejects deterrence as support. Need should be met with access, not humiliation.
When looking at less eligibility, ask: who had power, who was being labelled, and what would have changed if the human being had been seen first?