Born on the first of December, in poverty (4)
I believe the answer is:
need
'poverty' is the definition.
(need is a kind of poverty)
'born on the first of december' is the wordplay.
'born' becomes 'nee' (I've seen this before).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the first of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'december' is 'd'.
'nee'+'d'='NEED'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for need that I've seen before include "privation" , "Lack or require" , "Exigency" , "Necessity" , "''A friend in .... is a friend indeed''" .)