impoverishment

[Cf. OF. empoverissement, and F. appauvrissement.]
The act of impoverishing, or the state of being impoverished; reduction to poverty. Sir W. Scott.

noun

1. The condition of being extremely poor: beggary, destitution, impecuniosity, impecuniousness, indigence, need, neediness, pennilessness, penuriousness, penury, poverty, privation, want. See rich/poor.
2. The depletion or sapping of strength or energy: attenuation, debilitation, depletion, devitalization, enervation, enfeeblement. See strong/weak.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
  Synonyms: poverty, poorness

Meaning #2: the act of making someone poor
  Synonyms: pauperization, pauperisation