The Vagrancy Act of 1824 is an act that was implemented in the 19th century to punish those who slept within a public space or actively ask for money in public. The original purpose of that act was to keep track of the rising rates of homelessness but instead has applied more stress to struggling individuals. In addition, the individual is not able to reach out for any support that may be offered as a result of this act. To this day, the Vagrancy Act is still in place despite opposition. Charles Dickens has made homelessness a topic of discussion in the novel by introducing a character that suffers through homelessness, as well as how many people of different social classes react to such a character. It could be implied from the novel that at the time, the people in London did their best to not associate themselves with homeless people nor did they attempt much to help them, due to the misconception of homeless people being branded as "lazy." Because of this, there has been little and slow reform to tackle the concerning rise of homelessness.

“UK Vagrancy Act of 1824: CSC.” Consortium for Street Children, 10 Sept. 2019, www.streetchildren.org/resources/uk-vagrancy-act-of-1824/.