poverty

Definition of Poverty

(noun) The state of lacking the material and social resources an individual requires to live a healthy life.

Example of Poverty

• A homeless individual living on the streets is in a state of poverty.

Types of Poverty

• absolute poverty
• relative poverty

Poverty Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: pov·er·ty

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈpɑvərdi/
• British English – /ˈpɒvəti/

Usage Notes

• Plural: poverties
• The definition of poverty and what an individual “requires” to live is highly subjective and often debated in the social sciences.
• Poverty is broken down into absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is the same regardless of country or culture and occurs when the resources required for minimum physical health are lacking, typically defined by no access to food, clothing, and shelter (e.g., a homeless individual living on the streets in ill health and hungry). Relative poverty is determined by income distribution over a given population and is culturally defined relative to societal norms (e.g., driving a used car when your neighbor just bought a new car). Absolute poverty is an objective measurement and relative poverty is subjective assessment.
• It is sociologically problematic to view poverty only through the lens of income or monetary worth, this perspective does not account for self-sufficiency by people living off the land or people who choose to live ascetically.

Related Quotation

• “Immanuel Wallerstein’s theory that the interconnectedness of the world system began in the 1500s, when Europeans began their economic and political domination of the rest of the world. Because capitalism depends on generating the maximum profits for the minimum of expenditures, the world system continues to benefit rich countries (which acquire the profits) and harm the rest of the world (by minimizing local expenditures and therefore perpetuating poverty)” (Kimmel and Aronson 2012:664).

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Word origin of “poverty” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Alcock, Pete. 2006. Understanding Poverty. 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Ellwood, David T. 1988. Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family. New York: Basic Books.
• Gans, Herbert. 1972. “The Positive Functions of Poverty.” American Journal of Sociology 78(2):275–89. doi:10.1086/225324.
• Goldsmith, William W., and Edward J. Blakely. 1992. Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
• Harrington, Michael. 1962. The Other America: Poverty in the United States. New York: Macmillan.
• Haveman, Robert H. 1976. Poverty, Income Distribution, and Social Policy: The Last Decade and the Next. Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin.
• Hulme, David, ed. 2015. Global Poverty: How Global Governance is Failing the Poor. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
• Jenkins, Stephen P. 2011. Changing Fortunes: Income Mobility and Poverty Dynamics in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Katz, Michael B. 1989. The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Kendall, Diana Elizabeth. 2005. Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Lister, Ruth. 2005. Poverty and Social Justice. Tredegar: Bevan Foundation.
• Murray, Charles A. 1984. Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950–1980. New York: Basic Books.
• Pillay, Udesh, Gerard Hagg, Francis B. Nyamnjoh, and Jonathan D. Jansen, eds. 2013. State of the Nation: South Africa 2012–2013: Addressing Poverty and Inequality. Cape Town: HSRC.
• Rowntree, Benjamin Seebohm. 1901. Poverty: A Study of Town Life. Bristol: Policy.
• Sachs, Jonathan. 2005. The End of Poverty: How We Can Make It End in Our Lifetime. London: Penguin.
• Seekings, Jeremy, and Nicoli Nattrass. 2006. Class, Race and Inequality in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
• Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf.
• Townsend, Peter. 1979. Poverty in the United Kingdom. New York: Penguin.
• Wilson, William Julius. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• United States Census Bureau – Poverty: census.gov
• World Bank – Poverty: worldbank.org

Related Terms

• absolute poverty
• capitalism
• class
• discrimination
• economic
• income
• poverty line
• poverty trap
• relative poverty
• wealth

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Reference

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Works Consulted

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Cite the Definition of Poverty

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “poverty.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

poverty. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “poverty.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“poverty.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty/>.