Poverty is a symptom. The condition is a social system that is not able to provide basic needs for all the people in it. This definition can include a wide variety of dynamics, including: lack of support/resources for the mentally ill; unequal distribution of resources based on lineage/cast/class; unequal distribution of resources justified by “competition and meritocracy” but actually dictated by power in political and economic classes, etc.
Most contemporary poverty is artificial, the result of inefficiency and poor social systems. Very few people are poor (lack basic needs: sustenance, basic healthcare, shelter etc.) because there isn’t enough to go around. Even in so-called poor or third-world countries, poverty is not because the country has no resources, but because the systems distributing them are broken by corruption, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.