But the most important objective causes of poverty are undoubtedly those
found in the social environment,--those which spring from certain social
conditions or faults in social organization. Among these we may mention:
(1) _Economic Causes_. Defective industrial organization and
economic evils of various sorts are thought by many persons to be the
main productive causes of poverty and dependence in modern society, and
there can be no doubt that a very large per cent of poverty may be
traced directly to economic evils. This is shown by the fact that in the
schedules of all charity organization societies "lack of employment"
figures as the first or second most conspicuous cause of distress in the
cases with which such societies deal. It is usually estimated that from
twenty to forty per cent of all such cases of dependence may be
attributed to lack of employment, not due to the employee. It is well
known that in periods of industrial depression the number of applicants
for aid in our large cities increases enormously, and local strikes and
lockouts frequently have the same effect.
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