Across the social sciences the typical study of poverty assesses the individual characteristics that explain why people are poor.  In recent years sociologists have called on inequality researchers to contextualize socio-economic attainment within the institutions and social relations that generate inequality.  Our study analyzes how the political context of affluent democracies embodied by the welfare state and collective political actors shapes poverty.  Specifically we conduct a multi-level analysis of working-aged adult poverty across 18 affluent Western democracies.  Using the