Poverty measurement

The final report by UN special rapporteur, Philip Alston, argues that there has been a failure to tackle extreme poverty. Condemning the reliance on the World Bank's line, he calls for its replacement with measures based on an adequate standard of living.

The implementation of the consensual method of multi-dimensional poverty measurement is simple and straight forward. It uses a representative sample survey; this can be attached as a module to existing national surveys, if desired.  The survey has two main aims.  First, to identify a range of socially-perceived necessities - items, activities and services that no-one should have to do without. And second to identify those who have an 'enforced lack' of the item or activity - that is they go without these items because they cannot afford them or do not have access to them.  Only those who have an enforced lack of a socially perceived necessity are seen as deprived. The survey therefore has three key questions:

These items and activities cover (as appropriate for the society in which the survey is being conducted): 

The EU has revised its material deprivation index from the existing 9-item to a new 13-item index following analysis of data from around 50 material deprivation items, derived from the UK Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey indicators and collected in EU-SILC 2009. Read more about the analyses behind this new index.

Researchers from the University of Campinas, the University of Sao Paulo, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Direito do Sul de Minas, the Pontifical Catholic University and the University of Londrina are collaborating with Cardiff University on measuring multi-dimensional poverty using the consensual approach.