Poverty as a topic in literary analysis has risen in popularity in recent years with the development of a new field called the New Poverty Studies. The field of study is still in its developing stages, but its main concern is researching the effect writing about poverty had on the public perception of the poor. This thesis is concerned with working-class writers and their works with the focus being on the two working-class novels: 'Love on the Dole' written by Walter Greenwood and 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tressell. It offers a brief historical overview of the original working-class writers and their development into the early 20th-century working-class novel. The work further focuses on recognizing the causes of poverty as well as the consequences it leaves on one's body, mental well-being, and the perception of their gender. Through the analysis of the two novels concepts such as capitalism, socialism, poverty, and class have been elaborated as well as the role they have played in the continuation of the abuses of the working class. The thesis shows the destruction of the working class through the abuses of the capitalistic system, and the lack of recognition of the part the poor themselves play in perpetuating the torturous system. Moreover, the analysis will demonstrate the daily lives of the poor and the authors’ personal connection to poverty. Most of the poverty writing was brought into focus by those who were not of the working class and had no experience or knowledge of the reality that the poor are faced with. It made their portrayal of the poor unreliable and oftentimes sensationalistic and comic instead of authentic. It frequently caused damage of misinformation, presenting the poor as lazy thieves, and idlers. The working-class writers brought a new, realistic, and perception-changing dimension to poverty literature.