The research on low income earners, focusing on the lowest income decile, was launched in 1969, and the final paper was published in 1972 under the title The Living Conditions of the Low Income Population in Hungary. The research project was a taboo breaker: when István Kemény spoke at the ceremonial session series of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1970, his use of the word poverty caused an immediate scandal because according to official political propaganda there were no poor people in Hungary. On the orders of Miklós Nagy, a department head in the central party organization, István Kemény was immediately expelled from the Institute of Sociology. His penalty was later reduced and he was employed on a short term contract, renewable every month, which kept him under serious pressure. The final report of the research was immediately classified and the copies were kept in the vaults of the head of department; even the Hungarian Central Planning Office was allowed to borrow a copy only on the orders of the prime minister. At the same time about a hundred copies circulated in the city.

The series consists of the documents relating to the research project, including interim reports and background studies.

During the course of processing no materials have been removed from the series.

The series is arranged in alphabetical order.

The series contains paper documents of good physical condition.

One methodological curiosity of the research was the decision to set the poverty line in terms of geographical location and other criteria of living conditions rather than of the exact figure of the minimal wage.