History Main / BarefootPoverty

* Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl is barefoot out in the freezing winter, as a result of AbusiveParents.

* {{Decemberists}}: "I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep / No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet..."

* TheDecemberists: "I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep / No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet..."

* African teenager Frangie Marr from the book ''Literature/FrontLines'' by Michael Grant. She's outgrown her last pair of shoes and can't afford to wear any until she arrives at military boot camp (Frangie notes the irony in that name). It's stated how humiliating this is for her.

** In the Literature/BookOfExodus, there was a law that stated that if a man died without any [[HeirClubForMen male heirs]], his widow was to marry his brother, and the brother would [[LineageComesFromTheFather carry on the family line]] for him via the first son he had with her. If the man refused the marriage, she was to publicly humiliate him ([[FamilyHonor and all]] [[SinsOfOurFathers his descendants and relatives]]) by removing his sandals, spitting on him, and publicly declaring that he refused to do his duty to his family and society.

* In ''{{Literature/Banco}}'', Papillon's GirlOfMyDreams, Rita, was raised by her single mother and was the youngest of six children in a poor neighborhood of Tangiers. She roamed as a barefoot StreetUrchin until she was ten years old.

* Averted in ''Anime/TheStoryOfPerrine'': When one of Perrine's short boots breaks due to overuse, she ''doesn't'' go barefoot since she works in a factory and it'd be ''extremely'' unsafe. She first ties it up with a rudimentary cord, then saves up a little money to make a hemp sole for it.

* Truth in Television. Poverty at the level of hand to mouth (or worse) doesn't leave money for things like shoes.

DoesNotLikeShoes may be a result of this if the character manages to get out of their poverty. A SisterTrope to BankruptcyBarrel and PauperPatches. Compare EarthyBarefootCharacter.

* In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Sign of Four", the [[BakerStreetRegular Baker Street Irregulars]] are described as having "naked feet".

* In {{Creator/Disney}}'s ''Disney/RobinHood'', the rabbit family exemplify both this trope and the BarefootCartoonAnimal.

[[folder: Film--Live Action ]]

* ''{{Film/Glory}}'': This is the case for many of the black enlistees to the 54th MA Volunteer Infantry, and the {{Jerkass}} quartermaster thinks it's funny to claim that his armory has no shoes to spare when he's clearly living off the fat of his riches. Worse, a few that do have shoes, like Silas, haven't washed them out in ages and [[{{Squick}} thus have gained nasty infections and blisters]]. Naturally, the whole regiment celebrates once fresh and new shoes are finally provided for the volunteers.

DoesNotLikeShoes may be a result of this if the character manages to get out of their poverty. A SisterTrope to BankruptcyBarrel. Compare EarthyBarefootCharacter.

* ''Anime/PrincessSarah'': In Episode 23, Sarah bought five loaves of bread and gave all but one to a girl who's even poorer and hungrier than she is. The other girl's lack of shows is one of the clues to her level of poverty.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' has a briefly downplayed moment of this trope mixed with a possible FetishRetardant in ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext Evil GLADIS, MUCH?]]'' when [[spoiler: Mandy is sitting with bare feet on the sidewalk [[AlasPoorVillain because her mother sold the boots shw and Clover have been fighting over all episode.]]]] [[note]]Though Sam says that it's 87 degrees, so the snow she's sitting in clearly fake.[[/note]] [[spoiler: It's hard not to feel sorry despite her usual QueenBee status, so [[LovableLibby Clover]] decides to give her the boots [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext that she stole from a stranger]] before [[TractoExCulo pulling out a]] ''[[KickTheDog better]]'' [[AllWomenLoveShoes pair out of her shopping bag]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' has a briefly downplayed moment of this trope mixed with a possible FetishRetardant in ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext Evil GLADIS, MUCH?]]'' when [[spoiler: Mandy is sitting with bare feet on the sidewalk [[AlasPoorVillain because her mother took her shoes away from her.]]]] Sam's MindScrew comment aside[[note]]she says that it's 87 degrees while it's snowing[[/note]], [[spoiler: it's hard not to feel sorry despite her usual QueenBee status, so [[LovableLibby Clover]] decides to give her the boots [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext that she stole from a stranger]] before [[TractoExCulo pulling out a]] ''[[KickTheDog better]]'' [[AllWomenLoveShoes pair out of her shopping bag]].]]