A situation in which a person or household lacks the resources necessary to be able to consume a certain minimum basket of goods. The basket consists either of food, clothing, housing and other essentials (moderate poverty) or of food alone (extreme poverty).

The most common method used to define poverty is income-based. A person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. This minimum level is usually called the “poverty line.

the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions