What is relative poverty in simple terms?

Not starving, but living far below what is normal in your society.

The mean is pulled up by high earners; the median better reflects typical living standards.

Relative Poverty

🤝 Social Welfare By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Relative poverty, unlike absolute poverty defined by minimum subsistence, means lacking the resources to reach the living standards customary in one's society and so being unable to participate fully. It is commonly measured as income below 50 or 60 per cent of the median.

Contents

1. Townsend's definition
2. Measurement
3. The debate
4. FAQ
5. References

Townsend's definition

Townsend (1962, 1979) defined poverty as lacking resources for customary diets, activities and living conditions, finding deprivation rising sharply below an income level. Runciman's (1966) relative deprivation stressed reference groups.

Measurement

The OECD and EU use 50 or 60 per cent of median income, so the line rises with prosperity. Brady (2003) argued relative measures better capture exclusion and Atkinson (1987) showed results depend on line choice.

The debate

Sen (1983) argued poverty is absolute in capabilities but relative in commodities. Ravallion and Chen (2011) proposed weakly relative lines. The concept anchors debates on social exclusion and redistribution.

FAQ

What is relative poverty in simple terms?: Not starving, but living far below what is normal in your society.
Why use the median?: The mean is pulled up by high earners; the median better reflects typical living standards.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Townsend, P. (1962). The meaning of poverty. British Journal of Sociology, 13(3), 210–227. Redefines poverty socially.
Townsend, P. (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom: A survey of household resources and standards of living. Penguin. The deprivation survey.
Runciman, W. G. (1966). Relative deprivation and social justice. Routledge & Kegan Paul. Relative deprivation.
Sen, A. (1983). Poor, relatively speaking. Oxford Economic Papers, 35(2), 153–169. Absolute vs relative debate.
Atkinson, A. B. (1987). On the measurement of poverty. Econometrica, 55(4), 749–764. Sensitivity to poverty lines.
Brady, D. (2003). Rethinking the sociological measurement of poverty. Social Forces, 81(3), 715–751. Sociological measurement.
Ravallion, M., & Chen, S. (2011). Weakly relative poverty. Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(4), 1251–1261. Weakly relative lines.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.