​Yemen, Egypt, and Bahrain are different from each other in many respects including average income, population, and the structure of production. This study deals with the effect of these differences on the kind of poverty prevalent in the respective state, its spread among the population, causes, and the anti-poverty policies adopted. This treatment is based on a definition of two kinds of poverty: absolute and relative poverty, as well as determining which of these applies to each of the three states and measurement of the spread of poverty among the population using a new methodology to define low-income. The study also reviews the direct and indirect reasons for poverty on the theoretical level, and discusses the extent to which these reasons apply in the three states. The study finds that there is an inverse relationship between levels and spread of poverty on the one hand and economic and social assistance offered to the poor and low-income in these three states on the other.