In common usage "the disadvantaged" is a generic term for those "from lower-income backgrounds or "the Disadvantaged Poor". The "economically disadvantaged" is a term used by government institutions in for example allocating free school meals to "a student who is a member of a household that meets the income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced-price meals (less than or equal to 185% of Federal Poverty Guidelines) or business grants
The "disadvantaged" is often applied in a third world context and typically relate to women with reduced "upward mobility" suffering social exclusion and having limited access to natural resources and economic opportunities. They are often landless or marginal farmers operating on the most unproductive land. Statistically a person born into poverty is likely to die there and have children who live powerless as well.
According to Paul Krugman in an October 2002 article titled "about the distribution of wealth" , there is even more of a divide between the classes today than in the 1920s, meaning that the disadvantaged are becoming more economically disadvantaged. The current economy in the United States is one that has divided the rich and the poor, with the rich taking the bulk of the gains in productivity of the last several decades. The majority of those termed as disadvantaged live in the developing world with no or insufficient readily available running water, electricity or sanitation.
In the US The "Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act allowed qualifying hospitals to employ temporary foreign workers as Registered Nurses (RNs).