Where that line was drawn varied from city to city and was usually kept secret "for fear that the Board would be cheated."' What should be done about irregular or undeclared earnings? What adjustments needed to be made for larger families? In his 1877 speech to the Royal Statistical Society, Booth presented the findings of a survey on the incomes of London s poor and suggested that a line of poverty', set at 18 to 21 shillings a week, would divide the people of London into those who live 'in comfort' and those who live 'in poverty'.