Ripon Workhouse Museum reopens, drawing parallels between Victorian and modern homelessness

Ripon Workhouse Museum reopens July 21 after a £2.8 million redevelopment. Curator Laura Allan notes that Victorian-era causes of homelessness — alcoholism, mental illness, family breakdown, returning veterans — mirror today's. Among Britain's most complete surviving workhouses, the site challenges visitors to consider whether they could endure the workhouse system: institutional relief that required inmates to labor in exchange for shelter and food.