A recent report form the city of Buenos Aires measuring multi-dimensional poverty, using the consensual method, has found that in 2019,15.3% of households were multi-dimensionally poor, rising to 25.7% for households with children under 18 years of age. The method established will be used to measure nu,ti-dimensional poverty on an ongoing basis.
We are now delighted to offer you the presentation slides and video recordings of sessions across the three days, featuring formal presentations, interactive Q&As, networking opportunities and much more.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Steering Group on Measuring Poverty and Inequality has been tasked with producing a guide on Measuring Social Exclusion which references a lot of our PSE work.
Japan
Research into public attitudes to necessities in Japan finds that the items and activities regarded as necessary tend to focus on food, belongings, household good and financial matters (such as paying bills) rather than social activities (such as participating in hobbies) and obligations (such as giving gifts to family and friends). The research also suggests that the Japanesse public have a more restrictive notion of necessities than the UK and other rich, developed countries (see Comparative Research below).
The 2011 'Perceptions of Necessities' survey
In 2011 the National Institute of Population and Social conducted a 'Perceptions of necessities' survey. It asked about 67 items and activities for adults and 30 children's items and activities. The items and activities were developed from a series of focus groups and an earlier 'Perceptions of necessities' survey in 2003. Respondents were interviewed by a postal survey (sample size 3,000, responses 1,518). The respondents were asked:
This question is about a standard of living for all people in Japan today. In order to live a modern life, what items do you think are necessary and should be able to be acquired by everybody? This question is about a standard of living for all people in Japan today. In order to live a modern life, what items do you think are necessary and should be able to be acquired by everybody?
The responses available were: 'Definitely necessary', 'Desirable but not necessary', 'Not necessary'.
The table below shows for each item and activity for adults the percentage thinking the item is 'definitely necessary' in order 'to live a modern life in Japan'. It is important to note that the survey was conducted during July 2011, just four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake which killed nearly 20,000 people. It is quite possible that a disaster of this magnitude, whose effects are still being felt, may have influenced people’s perceptions of life’s necessities temporarily and/or even permanently. The table can be sorted by clicking the top of a column.
Money to use on e recreation or study eg books, dvds (>3000 yen/month)
17%
An overnight family trip at least once a year
16%
Washlet (toilet seat with automatice water heater)
14%
Computer
14%
Money to go out dining with colleagues
14%
Camera
13%
Internet access at home
13%
Veranda or garden
12%
Eating out (2,3 times a month)
12%
Money to got to movies, museums etc (more than once a month)
9%
Sofa, long chair or other relaxing chair
9%
DVD, blue ray or video equipment
9%
Audio set
9%
Autobike or scooter
4%
Mobile music player (ipod etc)
3%
Source: Presentation by Aya Abe (download below)
Twenty eight of the 67 items and activities for adults were seen as necessary by over 50% of respondents. The items with the highest percentages covered medical needs, food and a range of household goods and facilties. A range of items had gained more than 10% in the percentage thinking the item necessary compared to 2003, including'being able to go to family and friend's weddings/funerals', 'being able to save every month' and 'internet access'. The survey also found widespread agreement between different social groups.
Details of the findings of the survey were presented by Aya Abe fomr the Naitonal Institute of Poplulation and Social Securutty Research to a seminar on 'Public Perceptions of necessities in Japan and the UK' in Tokyo in 2015. Download this presentation below.
A presentation on 'Poverty Measurement in Japan' reporting the results of the 2003 survey was made by Abe Aya at the Second Townsend Conference on International PovertyThis presentation reports the findings of a 2003 survey (sample 1,350) that asked respondents which of a list of 28 items covering various aspects of life (both material and social) they thought were ‘necessary’ to live normally in Japan.
Details of the findings of this survey and comparisons with perceptions of necessities in the UK can be found in the Social Policy and Society journals themed section on 'Comparative Persepectives on Poverty and Inequality: Japan and the United Kingdom'.The comparative research found that the Japanese public tends to have a more restrictive notion of what a minimum standard of living should encompass than in the UK, even after controlling for key variables. Nevertheless, there was also evidence of a consensus on the majority of adult items in terms of whether they constituted necessities or not. See:
Social Policy and Society Journal
Volume 13 / Issue 01 / January 2014, pp 143-154, Cambridge University Press, doi:10.1017/S1474746413000419
Published online: September 2013
Introduction: Comparative Perspectives on Poverty and Inequality: Japan and the United Kingdom
Christina Pantazis, University of Bristol
Poverty and inequality appear to be intractable features of rich industrialised nations. It is a great paradox that despite rising prosperity in most advanced industrialised countries over the last two or three decades, poverty and inequality have remained stubbornly high and have even increased in the majority of rich countries (OECD, 2008, 2011). The United Kingdom and Japan are no exceptions to these trends. Despite having markedly different historical trajectories, there is evidence that the two societies are converging on the issue of these pressing social problems.
See also, UNICEF's report on child well being in Japan which looks at 5 different dimension of well-being including material deprivation. 'Child well-being in rich coutnries - comparing Japan', Aya Abe and Junko Takezawa, UNICEF, 2013.
PSE:UK is a major collaboration between the University of Bristol, Heriot-Watt University, The Open University, Queen's University Belfast, University of Glasgow and the University of York working with the National Centre for Social Research and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. ESRC Grant RES-060-25-0052.
