Despite reformers trying to explain the reality of the situation, easy and mistaken judgements of the disadvantaged continued to be widespread, with poverty often being attributed to idleness or poor behavior rather than socio-economic factors, and there was no over-riding belief that the state should run its own system of universal welfare. People who wanted to help, or needed help, thus had to turn to the volunteer sector.
These created a vast voluntary network, with mutual societies and friendly societies providing insurance and support. This has been called a 'mixed welfare economy', as it was a mixture of state and private initiatives. Some parts of this system included the work houses, places where people would find work and shelter, but at a level so basic they would be 'encouraged' to seek outside work to better themselves. On the other end of the modern compassion scale you had bodies set up by professions such as miners, into which they paid insurance and which protected them from accident or illness.