pauperization

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

pauperization
    n 1: a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence
         appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the
         homeless" [syn: {indigence}, {need}, {penury}, {pauperism},
         {pauperization}]
    2: the act of making someone poor [syn: {pauperization},
       {pauperisation}, {impoverishment}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Pauperization \Pau`per*i*za"tion\, n.
   The act or process of reducing to pauperism. --C. Kingsley.
   [1913 Webster]