Rowntree, Benjamin Seebohm

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Rowntree, Benjamin Seebohm (1871–1954). Rowntree, of the York, Liberal, quaker, chocolate-manufacturing family, conducted a local survey of poverty, the first of three during his life, published as Poverty: A Study of Town Life (1901). He classified poverty in two categories: families endured primary poverty when the four basic requirements of food, fuel, shelter, and clothing were not met from income, no matter how carefully managed; secondary poverty occurred when families had the income to cover the basic necessities, but did not have money for other essentials such as medicine. Rowntree concluded that 9.91 per cent of York's population were living in primary poverty and 17.93 in secondary poverty. These combined figures were so close to Booth's earlier calculations for London as to demonstrate that the problem of poverty was general.

John Butt

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