The prince and the pauper

Much talk recently about poverty - problem is that no-one seems to be able to come up with a definitive explanation of just what constitutes poverty. I don't like to play the "when I was a lad" card, but I can remember when poverty meant not having enough money to put decent food on the table, or to buy enough coal to keep a good fire going. Today it seems to mean not having a video recorder or a washing machine. It has been suggested that, rather than poverty, it should be referred to as "social deprivation" - but then, that's just as difficult to define. Someone on TV the other morning said it was "not having enough money to do what you wanted to do" - well on that basis, most people would fall into that category. I certainly would. There will always be those at the bottom of the income ladder, just as there will always be those at the top, but is anyone really poor these days?