Pauperism

Common card · No. 231090

Pauperism (from Latin pauper 'poor'; Welsh: tlotyn) is the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the Irish and English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally the state of being supported at public expense, within or outside of almshouses, and still more generally, of dependence for any considerable period on charitable assistance, public or private. In this sense, pauperism is to be distinguished from general poverty or the state of being a poor, although the two concepts overlap.

Read on Wikipedia