This phenomenological study investigates the lived experiences of poverty among female-headed households residing in Mashhad's Al-Teymour informal settlement, employing Oscar Lewis's theory of the culture of poverty and a multidimensional poverty framework. Through thematic analysis of 26 semi-structured interviews conducted via purposive sampling until theoretical saturation, the research explores how these women experience and interpret poverty in their daily lives, with key sensitizing concepts including economic deprivation, social exclusion, shame and stigma, everyday resistance, and poverty paradoxes. The findings reveal three interconnected thematic dimensions: subsistence struggles (material-livelihood aspects), weakened social interactions (relational-structural aspects), and individual/familial psychological wounds (psychosocial aspects). The results demonstrate that poverty constitutes a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing not only material deprivation but also social marginalization, psychological trauma, and the reproduction of intergenerational poverty cycles. Despite women's demonstrated agency and resilience in managing these challenges, the compounded pressures of economic hardship, social exclusion, and psychological distress result in heightened vulnerability and social isolation, underscoring the need for comprehensive policy interventions that simultaneously address economic, social, and psychological dimensions of poverty.