Influenced earlier by positivism, he embarked in 1886 on the major survey of London life and labour for which he became famous and is commonly regarded as initiating the systematic study of poverty in Britain.
Booth was critical of the existing statistical data on poverty.
By analysing census returns he argued that they were unsatisfactory and later sat on a committee in 1891 which suggested improvements which could be made to them.
Due to the scale of the survey, results were published serially but it took over fifteen years before the full seventeen volume edition was published.
His work on the study and his concern with the problems of poverty led to an involvement in campaigning for old-age pensions and promoting the decasualization of labour.

Booth publicly criticised the claims of H. M. Hyndman, the leader of the Social Democratic Federation, Britain's first socialist party.
In the Pall Mall Gazette of 1885, Hyndman stated that 25% of Londoners lived in abject poverty.
The survey of life and labor began with a pilot study in Tower Hamlets.
Booth then hired numerous researchers to assist with the full study of the whole of London, which investigated the three main topics of poverty, occupations, and religion.
Among his researchers were his cousin Beatrice Potter (Beatrice Webb) and the chapter on women's work was conducted by the budding economist Clara Collet.
This research, which looked at incidences of pauperism in the East End of London, showed that 35% were living in abject poverty – even higher than the original figure.
This work was published under the title Life and Labour of the People in 1889.
A second volume, entitled Labour and Life of the People, covering the rest of London, appeared in 1891.
Booth also popularised the idea of a 'poverty line', a concept conceived by the London School Board.
Booth set this line at 10 to 20 shillings a week, which he considered to be the minimum amount necessary for a family of 4 or 5 people to subsist.

After the first two volumes were published Booth expanded his research.
This investigation was carried out by Booth himself with his team of researchers.
Nonetheless, Booth continued to oversee his successful shipping business which funded his philanthropic work.
The fruit of this research was a second expanded edition of his original work, published as Life and Labour of the People in London in nine volumes between 1892 and 1897.
A third edition (now expanded to seventeen volumes) appeared 1902–3.

Booth used his work to argue for the introduction of Old Age Pensions which he described as "limited socialism".
Booth argued that such reforms would help prevent a socialist revolution from occurring in Britain.
Booth was far from tempted by the ideals of socialism, but had sympathy with the working classes and, as part of his investigations, he took lodgings with working-class families and recorded his thoughts and findings in his diaries.

The London School of Economics keeps his work on an online searchable database.
Influenced earlier by positivism, he embarked in 1886 on the major survey of London life and labour for which he became famous and is commonly regarded as initiating the systematic study of poverty in Britain. Booth was critical of the existing statistical data on poverty. By analysing census returns he argued that they were unsatisfactory and later sat on a committee in 1891 which suggested improvements which could be made to them. Due to the scale of the survey, results were published serially but it took over fifteen years before the full seventeen volume edition was published. His work on the study and his concern with the problems of poverty led to an involvement in campaigning for old-age pensions and promoting the decasualization of labour.
Booth publicly criticised the claims of H. M. Hyndman, the leader of the Social Democratic Federation, Britain's first socialist party. In the Pall Mall Gazette of 1885, Hyndman stated that 25% of Londoners lived in abject poverty. The survey of life and labor began with a pilot study in Tower Hamlets. Booth then hired numerous researchers to assist with the full study of the whole of London, which investigated the three main topics of poverty, occupations, and religion. Among his researchers were his cousin Beatrice Potter (Beatrice Webb) and the chapter on women's work was conducted by the budding economist Clara Collet. This research, which looked at incidences of pauperism in the East End of London, showed that 35% were living in abject poverty – even higher than the original figure. This work was published under the title Life and Labour of the People in 1889. A second volume, entitled Labour and Life of the People, covering the rest of London, appeared in 1891. Booth also popularised the idea of a 'poverty line', a concept conceived by the London School Board. Booth set this line at 10 to 20 shillings a week, which he considered to be the minimum amount necessary for a family of 4 or 5 people to subsist.
After the first two volumes were published Booth expanded his research. This investigation was carried out by Booth himself with his team of researchers. Nonetheless, Booth continued to oversee his successful shipping business which funded his philanthropic work. The fruit of this research was a second expanded edition of his original work, published as Life and Labour of the People in London in nine volumes between 1892 and 1897. A third edition (now expanded to seventeen volumes) appeared 1902–3.
Booth used his work to argue for the introduction of Old Age Pensions which he described as "limited socialism". Booth argued that such reforms would help prevent a socialist revolution from occurring in Britain. Booth was far from tempted by the ideals of socialism, but had sympathy with the working classes and, as part of his investigations, he took lodgings with working-class families and recorded his thoughts and findings in his diaries.
The London School of Economics keeps his work on an online searchable database.
Charles Booth (social reformer)