Booth, Charles (1840–1916)

English shipowner and sociologist; author of the study Life and Labour of the People in London (1902) conducted from 1889, in which he found that 30% of Londoners lived in unacceptable conditions. Booth argued that poverty was not caused by idleness or drink, but by low wages, sickness, and unemployment. He argued that poverty caused depravity. Booth served on the Royal Commission that investigated the poor law 1905–09, and campaigned for an old-age pension scheme.