| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of England |
| Year: | 1351 |
| Citation: | 25 Edw. 3. Stat. 2 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 |
| Status: | repealed |
The Statute of Labourers was a law created by the English Parliament under King Edward III in 1351 in response to a labour shortage, which aimed at regulating the labour force by prohibiting requesting or offering a wage higher than pre-Plague standards and limiting movement in search of better conditions. The popular narrative about its success and enforcement holds that it was poorly enforced and did not stop the rise in real wages. However, immediately after the Black Death, real wages did not rise, despite the labour shortage.[1]
The Black Death, a pandemic of bubonic plague, killed more than one-third of the population of Europe[2] and 30–40% of the population in Britain[3] and caused a dramatic decrease in the supply of labour. Landowners suddenly faced a sharp increase in competition for workers to work for them. Labourers had increased bargaining power and commanded higher wages. The increase in labour cost also led to inflation throughout the economy. The elite class lamented the sudden shift in economic power. In an attempt to control labour costs and price levels, Edward III issued the Ordinance of Labourers 1349. Parliament attempted to reinforce the Ordinance with the Statute of Labourers. It was one of the causes, among others, of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.
The statute set a maximum wage for labourers that was commensurate with wages paid before the Black Death, specifically, in the year 1346. It also mandated that able-bodied men and women should work and imposed harsh penalties for those who remained idle.
It required:
The statute's changes failed to take into account the changing economic conditions during the Black Death, and furthermore the period from which wage levels were taken was one of economic depression in England as a result of the Hundred Years' War. Therefore, wages during the Black Death were set even lower to match those during this depression. In practice, the statute was poorly enforced and unsuccessful, but it set a precedent that distinguished between labourers who were "able in body" to work and those who could not work for whatever reasons. This distinction resurfaced in later laws regarding poverty.
The Statute of Labourers (and its counterpart, the Ordinance of Labourers) was, of course, very unpopular with the peasants, who wanted higher wages and better living standards, and was a contributing factor to subsequent peasant revolts, most notably the English peasants' revolt of 1381. Similar processes happened throughout Europe – wage caps following a labour shortage after the Black Death resulting in popular revolts.
The statute was poorly enforced in most areas (and even then, typically only against laborers and not employers), and farm wages in England on average doubled between 1350 and 1450.
It was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863.[4]