26 Powerful Photos That Show Poverty’s Stark Reality From Decades Past
Poverty has always left its mark — not just in statistics or history books, but in the weary faces of those who lived through it. From barefoot children in run-down shacks during the Great Depression to exhausted parents laboring in Dust Bowl fields for pennies on the dollar, these images capture hardship in ways words alone can’t fully describe. They tell stories of resilience, struggle, and hope in times when just putting food on the table was a daily struggle.
1. Below the Poverty Line: Life in Britain’s Slums During the 1960s
2. ‘A Mother and Her Children Living in Poverty in Elm Grove, Oklahoma, August 1936’
3. Children Share a Meager Meal of Potatoes, Cabbage, and Some Form of Pie During the Great Depression, 1936
4. A Boy Tends to His Little Sister in Ramblers Park, Washington, 1939
5. A Family Stands Outside Their Poverty-Stricken Home in Iowa, 1936
6. Droves of Men Wait in Line for the Possibility of Work During the Great Depression, 1930
7. Two Women and a Child Stand Outside a Turf House in the Netherlands, 1936
8. A Little Girl Stands Inside a Makeshift Home Covered in Newspaper
9. Rows of ‘Shantytowns’ Pictured in Elm Grove, Oklahoma, 1936
10. A Woman in the South Teaching Two Young Boys To Read, 1939
11. A Jewish Cobbler Living in Squalor Despite Working Long Hours of Hard Labor in New York City, 1887
12. A Scene From the ‘Valley of Poverty’ in Appalachia, 1964
13. A Family Living in Poverty in Rural Greece, 1930s
14. A Mother Hides Her Face in Shame After Deciding To Sell Her Four Children in Chicago, 1948
15. ‘Dust Bowl Migrants Photographed By Dorothea Lange, February 1936’
16. Children Play in the Muddy Streets of Glasgow, 1960s
17. Children Stand Outside Dilapidated Stables in Paddington, Sydney, Circa 1900
18. Two Young Girls Sit Barefoot on a Stone Stairway, Early 1900s
19. Two Boys Pump Water Outside Their Home During the Great Depression, 1930s
20. ‘Children in the Slums of Cumberland Street in Dublin, Ireland, 1940’
21. A Young Girl Walks Barefoot to School in Rural Virginia, October 1921
22. Two Boys Sit Inside a Run-Down Home Infested by Flies in Oklahoma City, July 1939
23. An Elderly Woman Stands Outside Her Rickety Home in Torsås, Sweden, 1904
24. Men Pictured at a Bread and Soup Kitchen During the Great Depression, Early 1930s
25. Kids Play in an Abandoned Car in Glasgow, Scotland 1969
26. Two Children Peer Out From a Broken Door in a Dilapidated Home in Kern County, California, 1940s
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