Poverty is a topic to which administrative law scholars do not usually devote much attention. The purpose of this article is to examine the administrative tasks aimed at preventing poverty and at caring for the poor. It is divided in three parts. The first defines the scope of the article, highlighting the relevant issues in an administrative law perspective. The second part concerns the tasks of public administrations related to poverty prevention and citizens’ welfare. The third part is devoted to the tasks relating to the remedies against poverty and to assistance to the poor. The first part includes a number of distinctions; the second and third include an analysis of administrative tasks, based on their individual elements.