poor people; the poor
Refers to people living in poverty, often used in social, economic, or historical contexts. Slightly formal; in casual speech 貧しい人々 is more common.
The policy aims to improve the lives of the poor.
In 19th-century London, many poor people lived.
貧民 is an older, more emotive word for poor people, while 貧困層 is the neutral, statistical term used in policy and academic contexts.
Compound of 貧 (hin, 'poor') and 民 (min, 'people'). The kanji combination directly conveys 'poor people' and has been used in Japanese since at least the Meiji era in social and political discourse.