The Victorian Workhouse

Workhouses were the institution of housing, feeding and taking care of the people who were unable to attending and supporting themselves. However, if you know how did these workhouses work and the detail of the workhouse system, you will figure out that workhouses weren't really the institution of helping people. For the poor people in the Victorian era, workhouses might be the hell they refused to go.
After searching "Workhouse" on the Internet, I understand that the workhouse wasn't really what it should be like. The poor people were paid in cash, and the paupers who were still living in their home would be forced to go to the workhouse. If the people were able to work, they would be sent and put to work, and if you didn't listen to what your master said, you would get the less salary. If you tried to run away from the workhouse, your family and yourself in the workhouse coudn't benefit and be helped by the workhouse system forever. In addition, if you and your family were sent to the workhouse in the same time, you guys might be separated to the different part of the workhouse and not allowed to mix, so it was also very risky to go to the workhouse.
Even though the workhouse didn't really help the poor people completely, after The 19th Century, the workhouse declined, and the welfare policies rose up. The poor people got more indemnification since then.