Secondary poverty is a description of poverty referring to those living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

whose income was sufficient for them to live above the line, but was spent on things other than the necessities of life. In 18th and 19th century

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, the practice of temperance among

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

s, as well as their rejection of

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, allowed them to eliminate secondary poverty and accumulate capital. The term was coined by Seebohm Rowntree after his investigations into poverty in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Factors contributing to secondary poverty

Alcohol use

The

Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the government of the United States, U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics, labor economics and ...

found that "the average American consumer dedicates 1 percent of all their spending to alcohol". In

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, households spent an average of £8.90 a week on alcohol.

Gambling

In the United States, the average individual loses $400.00 to

each year. The National Anti-Gambling League, which was founded in 1890, condemned the

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

as a cause of secondary poverty. More recently, the sociologist Gerda Reith stated that the lottery exploited working classes, which see it as one of the sole avenues for liberation from oppression. Reith stated that governments use the lottery as a means to increase their revenue and called it an "extra form of taxation". Indeed, people in the low-income brackets (2.8%) spend a higher percentage of their household income on games of chance than people in higher income brackets (0.5%). That is important since the risk of gambling related harm increases significantly when more than 1% of gross family income is spent on gambling activities. The additional risk of gambling for those in a lower-income bracket warrants further attention with the expansion of government-operated gambling throughout Canada, especially since increased rates of problem gambling prevalence are linked to enhanced accessibility and availability.Hahmann, T. E., & Matheson, F. L. (n.d.). Problem Gambling and Poverty. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.greo.ca/Modules/EvidenceCentre/files/Hahmann_and_Matheson_(2017)_Problem_gambling_and_poverty.pdf Problem gambling can be defined as difficulties in limiting money and/or time spent on the activity, which leads to problems for the gambler and others. According to Hahmann and Matheson (n.d.), two life events can lead to homelessness: significant job loss and problem gambling.

Tobacco

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, smokers spend ₹36,000 annually on smoking cigarettes.

Other drugs

"A survey from 2007 notes that 23% of unemployed persons had used cocaine at least once.", although homelessness may contribute to the use of cocaine, rather than the other way around.

Factors contributing to secondary poverty

Alcohol use

Gambling

Tobacco

Other drugs

See also

References

Further reading