Charles Booth was a successful businessman who was concerned about the extent of poverty in late Victorian cities. In 1886 he set out to establish what he saw as the “facts” of poverty and the way people lived and worked in London. His 17 volumes on the topic remain a landmark study of urban life. Updated in 1902–1903, they revealed that over 30 percent lived in poverty. The volumes provided vivid descriptions of the conditions of life and work in different occupations as well as of the varied character of the areas of London. Although criticized for what some saw as excessive fact-gathering, his work produced major advances in the interpretation of urban areas, especially through its systematic approach, its development of a social classification, its detailed maps of the degree of poverty and of social condition in each street on London, and its discussion of the social contribution of religious organizations. However, Booth's empirical emphasis meant that he was less interested in developing concepts or theories. The development of state pensions for the aged in 1909 owed much to his advocacy of this policy.