ABSTRACT
The first chapter sets the scene for the book and explains why poverty, including the consequences of living in poverty, are important for an understanding of modern societies and their development. The first chapter is structured so that it presents a snapshot of poverty and its development across the globe, in order to understand the variations in, and the issues relating to, poverty in modern societies. A short overview is then given of what readers can expect in the following chapters, before a few delimitations are presented.
