1) Beggary 2) Destitute state 3) French word used in English 4) Hardship 5) Impoverishment 6) Indigence 7) Insolvency 8) Lack of money 9) Misery 10) Need 11) Pauperism 12) Pauperization 13) Poorness 14) Poverty 15) Severe circumstances 16) Severe frugality 17) Severe poverty 18) Status in for poorer category Found on https://www.crosswordclues.com/clue/penury
Pen'u·ry noun [ Latin penuria ; confer Greek ... hunger, ... poverty, need, ... one who works for his daily bread, a poor man, ... to work for one's daily bread, to be poor: confer French pénurie .] 1. Absence of resources; want; privation; indigence; extreme poverty; destitution.... Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/P/50