ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the essential of the debate because of its importance in establishing the continued existence of poverty in developed countries and in giving a new impetus to the exploration of the effects of poverty on health. It aims to warn the reader of some of the pitfalls inherent in defining and measuring poverty. The chapter considers the profusion of measures of poverty, deprivation and socio-economic status used in government and international statistics and in health studies. The rise in living standards consequent upon dramatic economic expansion has all but eliminated absolute poverty in developed countries. However, substantial minorities in most developed countries have material resources insufficient to enable them to participate fully in the life of the societies to which they belong. Though not absolute in that their resources are adequate to sustain existence on a daily basis, their poverty can be described as 'relative'; relative, that is, to the living standards enjoyed by their fellow citizens.
