Abstract
Abstract Being in a state of material poverty can be a persistent or an episodic experience that can be life‐threatening, life‐restricting, or life‐disempowering. When combined with being socially excluded, marginalized, or disadvantaged, it qualifies those in this dual state for membership of the underclass. They are seen, variously, as de‐motivated free‐riders, social deviants, disempowered victims, or human beings enduring the challenge of human existence in a life devoid of meaning. The contribution of existential humanism to the poverty discourse is, essentially, the proposition that everyone needs the existential freedom to search for self‐identity, thus making it possible to achieve psychological potential. From this perspective, it is incumbent upon those who design and deliver public social welfare provision to concentrate on enhancing the existential human condition of long‐term able‐bodied welfare recipients. This can be achieved by building their capacity and motivation to begin, or further, the search for their authentic selves, and by encouraging and championing those who are willing and able to take responsibility for the direction their lives are taking.