The term poverty industry refers to a wide-range of money-making activities that attract a large portion of their business from the poor

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

. Businesses in the poverty industry often include payday loan

Payday loan

A payday loan is a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower's expenses until his or her next payday. The loans are also sometimes referred to as cash advances, though that term can also refer to cash provided against a prearranged line of credit such as a credit card...

 centers, pawnshops

Pawnbroker

A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...

, casinos, liquor stores, tobacco stores, and credit card companies. Illegal ventures such as loansharking or drug-dealing or prostitution might also be included. The poverty industry makes roughly US$33 billion a year.

While the ethics of the poverty industry are frequently debated, this is not to say that a business does offer a legitimate service or that all businesses of some type should be considered part of the industry. While businesses and organizations in the poverty industry may serve as a barrier for social progress, they are not a direct cause of poverty. Rather, they are usually considered symptoms of other social problems.