Poverty in the Still-Affluent Society

Although the poor have always been with us and, as the Bible suggests, will continue to be so (Deut. 15:11), it was not until the late 19^th century that Charles Booth made the first scientific effort to determine their numbers. From his seminal 1880s survey of the working classes in London up to the mid-20^th century, poverty typically meant a level of subsistence that barely afforded sufficient food, lodging and clothing. Booth’s initial estimate put the poverty line at about a thousand shillings per year.¹ Around the same time in the United States, Robert Hunter reckoned the figure to be $460 per year for the average family of five.²