What is poverty?

Defining poverty

Poverty is about money. If a family is in poverty they might not be able to afford the same type or quality of food, the same kind or standard of housing, or the same kinds of activities that other people in society can.

Poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life, from growing up in cramped, damp homes, to going without a warm winter coat, and missing out on school trips. The effects of poverty on children and on their parents and carers are severe and long lasting.

‘[It] feels like I’m left out of the fun that happens and stuff. Like it just makes me feel empty.’

 

Gideon, age 14, Tackling child poverty: an urgent priority

‘My number one reason for doing anything is my children, yet when I watch them queuing in a foodbank with me because I physically can’t provide for them, I feel horrific, it makes you feel like an absolute failure.’

 

Parent in a family affected by the two-child limit, Things will only get worse

Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.

Peter Townsend - sociologist and anti-poverty campaigner

Measuring poverty

Relative household income

The standard way to measure child poverty uses relative household income. A child is said to be living in poverty if they live in a household with income below 60 per cent of the national average (median) income.

At CPAG this is the measure of poverty that we think is most meaningful and the one we use most often.

Other ways to measure poverty

There are other ways to measure poverty, such as:

• absolute poverty or 'anchored' poverty - where the poverty line stays the same over time in real terms
• material deprivation indicators, for example things like having to use a food bank
• measures of the depth and persistence of poverty