Poverty has been attributed to:

1) Structural causes, as the result of the social preconditions such as:
 a) Unequal income distribution
 b) Geographic factors
 c) Education and skills
 d) Age discrimination
 e) Gender discrimination
 f) Racial discrimination
 g) Excessive taxation 
2) Familial causes, which attribute poverty to upbringing;
3) Subcultural causes, which attribute poverty to common patterns of life, learned or shared within a community;
4) War, including genocide, democide, and politicide;
5) Political corruption within government;
6) Economic factors;
7) Individual, or "pathological" causes, behavior or choices of individuals.

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