Pauperism (Lat. pauper, poor) is a term meaning poverty or generally the state of being poor, but in English usage particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. in receipt of relief administered under the English Poor Laws. ... In this sense the word is to be distinguished from "poverty".

What does pauperism mean?

Definitions of pauperism. a state of extreme poverty or destitution. synonyms: indigence, need, pauperisation, pauperization, penury.

Is there a difference between pauperism and poverty?

As nouns the difference between poverty and pauperism

is that poverty is the quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need while pauperism is the state of being a pauper; poverty.