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.
Tonga
Applying the Consensual Approach in Tonga
The Kingdom of Tonga has developed a multidimensional poverty measure, which builds on the Consensual Approach. Combining data on income and deprivation, the poor are seen as those who experience both low income and are also materially and socially deprived. This measure is used to assess progress towards meeting its SDG target on multidimensional poverty (SDG1.2), in particular for child poverty (see Measuring progress in tackling child poverty below).
Income is measured at the household level - reflecting the sharing of resources among household members – and takes into account both monetary (e.g. wages) and non-monetary sources (e.g. self-production). The income poverty line is set at 944 adjusted Pa’anga per month for children and 970 Pa’anga per month for adults.
Deprivation is captured through an index of socially perceived necessities - items and activities that the majority of people in Tonga consider that no-one should go without. The index contains both individual (with different items for adults and children to take into account the special needs of children) and household level indicators. The items were tested in a Consensual deprivation module in the 2015/16 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) to see if they were seen as essential. All items were seen as essential by a large majority as can be seen in the tables below.
Leisure equipment (eg sports equipment or a bycycle)
93%
Source: Consensual deprivation module, Household Income and Expenditure Survey, Tonga, 2016
It is worth noting that most of the items in the child necessities list relate to key rights in the International Convention of the Rights of the Child. The right to quality education (article 28) requires not only access to education but also to the means necessary to make the most of educational opportunities, such as books and school materials. Article 27 grants children the right to have their basic needs met including food, clothing and a safe place to live. Article 24 grants access to medication when needed and sufficient quality food as both are related to the right to health.
Deprivation rates
The survey next identifies those households and individuals who go without these items because they cannot afford them. The adult deprivation rate can be seen in the table below. The child deprivation rate can be seen under Measuring Progress in tackling child poverty (below).
Source: Consensual deprivation module, Household Income and Expenditure Survey, Tonga, 2016
The highest levels of deprivation are for household items, transportation and being able to cope in emergencies. With climate change bring an increased freqeunce and intensitiy of tropical cylones to the area, this ability to cope in emergencies is particularly important. Furthermore, 14% of households cannot afford all prescribed medicines. This has potentially serious health imnplications, in particular in managing the outbreak of infectious diseases.
Overall poverty
The analysis fo this data then examines low income and deprivation, allowing for a more nuanced view of poverty than just income measures ( see 'Assessing progress towards the eradication of poverty in the Kingdom of Tonga', Viliami Fifita, Alba Sánchez, Héctor Catalán and Daivd Gordon, Statistics Department Tonga, 2018)
On this basis, in Tonga, overall 27% of the population is in poverty. Child poverty rates are higher than adult poverty rates:
23% of adults - almost one in four - are poor: they are deprived of three or more essentials and live in a low-income household.
33% of children – one in three- living in poverty: they are deprived of two or more essentials and live in a low-income household.
As a result of this work, the Tonga government has targeted support to this group.
A further 14% of adults and 16% of children are vulnerable to deprivation: they face material and/or social deprivation but do not have low income. These may be households who have recently experienced an increase in their income (e.g. by a member gaining paid employment) after a period in poverty. This group is not currently poor but may benefit from support to cover their basic needs.
A further 25% of adults and 19% of children are in households on low incomes but are not currently facing deprivation. These households may be covering their needs through support from family and friends or may be able to draw on savings. This group is vulnerable to experiencing poverty in the future.
Measuring progress in tackling child poverty
The Tongan government first introduced this approach to measuring poverty in 2012. This means that trends in deprivation between 2012 and 2016 can be tracked. The table below shows changes in child deprivation, covering both the percentage of children living in households who cannot afford the household items seen as essential as well as the percentage the children lacking the essential child items. The table is sortable by column.
Leisure equipment (eg sports equipment or a bycycle)
24%
23%
-1
All prescribed medicine when someone sick
24%
15%
-9
Regular savings for emergencies
32%
29%
-3
Own means of transportation
33%
33%
0
Repair electrical goods
43%
31%
-12
Replace worn-out furniture
44%
36%
-8
Source: 'Assessing progress towards the eradication of poverty in the Kingdom of Tonga', Statistics Department Tonga, 2018
The table shows some improvement in child deprivation during this period. For most of the necessities, the percentage going without has fallen. Fewer children are deprived of at least one item and, in addition, fewer children are deprived of multiple items. The percentage lacking five or more necessities dropped from 29% to 24%.
Nevertheless, deprivation remains high and in some areas, most notable food, there has been little improvement. The percentage of children going without three meals a day remains at 8%, while 13% go without daily fruit a vegetables. Insufficient access to food has potential implications for children’s health and development as well as for their educational attainment. A number of policy considerations stem from these findings including making free school meals available to all students in compulaosry education, regardless of their ability to pay.
For further details see:
'Assessing progress towards the eradication of poverty in the Kingdom of Tonga', Statistics Department Tonga, 2018 (pdf below)
'Child Poverty in Tonga', Viliami Fifita, Shailen Nandy and David Gordon, University of Bristol, 2015 (pdf below)
Improving the deprivation index
To further improve the quality of index of deprivation and to ensure that it remains relevant to life in Tonga, the Tonga Statistics Department commissioned a series of focus groups examing in detail the attitudes of a wide range of groups. A series of 19 focus groups were conducted by the University of the South Pacific. This research found that the main poverty-related issues affecting participants’ lives fell into four broad themes: money, social obligations, individual characteristics, and resources. Under the theme of money, these sub themes emerged: income, cost of living, debt, and hardship. Social obligations had the following sub themes: community and family. The theme of individual characteristics related mainly to behaviours, while the theme of resources revealed the sub-themes of: education, technology, housing, drinking water, and transportation. Download below: 'Public perceptions of Child and Adult Poverty in Tonga', USP, 2019)
Below you can also download the 'Poverty Module Manual' for fieldworkers for the 2016 Household Expenditure and Income survey.
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.
