Book Review - Poverty in the United Kingdom

<p>Professor Townsend's monumental study of poverty in the United Kingdom has been long awaited. It is based on a specially commissioned household survey and the results are meticulously documented. It is possible not to admire the years of careful endeavour which the exercise has absorbed. The case studies presented are an effective answer to those who believe either that there is no poverty in Britain today or that it can be attributed to the moral failings of the poor themselves. But the outcome is, in my judgement, a deeply disappointing volume.</p>