Daily AncestorIndoor relief
Indoor relief was poor relief given inside an institution, usually an almshouse or poor farm, where the person lived at public expense.
Indoor relief meant full support inside a public institution: the almshouse, poor farm or workhouse, and for some people an insane asylum or reformatory. From the 1820s many states favored it, hoping the poorhouse would discourage people from seeking help.
It cost more per person than outdoor relief. In Massachusetts in the 1880s an indoor pauper cost over $139 a year, an outdoor one under $40. Cumberland, Maine, sold its town farm in 1866, when almost no residents remained, and went back to outdoor relief.
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Daily Ancestor. "Indoor relief." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/poor-relief/indoor-relief. Last checked 2026-10-03.