The condition of living below the poverty line, having insufficient income to meet one's basic needs.

The condition of living above the poverty line, but spending one's income on things other than the necessities of life, such as alcohol or gambling.

A self-reinforcing cycle which allows poverty to persist.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, New Zealand) The inability of a household to keep adequately warm at a reasonable cost.

(economics) The threshold of poverty, below which one's income does not cover necessities.

plural of poverty line

(slang, historical) The small and mostly short-lived B-movie studios in Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s, many of them near what is now Gower Street.

The state of a woman too poor to be able to afford sanitary products (tampons, sanitary towels and the like) connected to her period.

Alternative form of poverty is a state of mind

(informal, derogatory) Media, such as photography or television, exploiting poor people in order to generate sympathy etc.