Word of the Day

Absolute Poverty

Is when a household's income level is below a certain amount. This is in contrast to relative poverty which mustn't get confused! When all incomes grow, absolute poverty falls. If low incomes grow faster than average incomes, relative poverty will fall.

In the UK, relative poverty is mainly the concern. Absolute poverty occurs less because welfare benefits are given out to people as a minimum income and safety net.

Word of the Day

Relative poverty

Someone is in relative poverty when their incomes are rising at a lower rate than everyone else's. A more formal definition is, if someone is in relative poverty, their income is below a specified proportion of average household incomes (below the average incomes of the population).