poverty
The state of not having enough money or things to live well.
The condition of having insufficient money or material possessions to meet basic needs.
Not having enough of something important.
A condition of having too little of something necessary, useful, or desirable.
- Base: poverty
- Plural: poverty
extreme poverty
1Very severe lack of money and resources
Very severe form of being poor, often without enough food or shelter.
- Extreme poverty affects millions worldwide.
- They grew up in extreme poverty.
lift out of poverty
1Help someone stop being poor
To make someone not poor anymore by improving their life and income.
- The project lifted thousands out of poverty.
- Education can lift people out of poverty.
live in poverty
1Have very little money to live on
To have a life with very little money and not enough things for comfort.
- They live in poverty despite working hard.
- Millions still live in poverty around the world.
poverty line
1Official minimum income level
The amount of money you need to have enough food, housing, and other basic things to live.
- Many families earn less than the poverty line.
- The government raised the poverty line this year.
poverty trap
1Cycle keeping people poor
A situation where people stay poor because they cannot earn enough to improve their lives.
- High childcare costs can create a poverty trap for single parents.
- The program aims to break the poverty trap.
- Many development programs try to help families escape the poverty trap.