This rate presents numbers of 'Able-Bodied' adult males receiving relief from the Poor Law as a percentage of all males aged 15 to 64, as recorded by the Census of Population (generally using data for the registration unit exactly matching the poor law unit, but sometimes assembling data for lower-level registration units). The exact meaning of "able-bodied" is controversial, but it is generally understood to exclude those too old to work or permanently disabled, but to include those temporarily unwell, so this should not be interpreted as an "Unemployment Rate". What it does generally show is that relief to unemployed farm labourers was seen as legitimate, especially in winter, but relief to unemployed factory workers was not.