“It Is Difficult to Investigate a Phenomenon That the Community Does Not Believe Exists” Sociological Research on Poverty in Hungary, 1960–2010

The study presents the history of poverty research in Hungary from the socialism of the 1960s to the post of regime‐change period, up to 2010. The decline of social research during the socialist period had a significant impact on the development of poverty research. The exploration of the politico‐social context of poverty was a major demand of Hungarian academia in the 1960s, which went against the political demands of the time. Although poverty did not officially exist under state socialism, the state did covertly address the plight of the poor, primarily through its policy toward the Roma. The first major poverty survey was carried out in the 1980s. Poverty was replaced by new concepts and categories in sociology, and in this context, a conceptual debate developed among researchers as to whether the term “poverty” should or should not be used in a way that was adapted to the needs of the authorities. The 1981–82 study proved that poverty exists, and that it is much more widespread than anyone had previously assumed. After the regime change, a series of “Who are the poor?”, the conceptual categories, and research guidelines of the European Union have become established in poverty studies.