In his final report to the UN, Philip Alston, the former Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and...
Poverty measurement
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22/10/2013
On Measuring Child Poverty
At their annual conference in September, the Royal Statistical Society organised a session on the government’s consultation on child poverty. With the next announcement on consultation now expected before Christmas, Paul Allin and John Veit-Wilson summarise the presentations and discussion.
Category: Articles -
09/10/2013
Attitudes to necessities in the PSE 2012 survey: are minimum standards becoming less generous
This PSE UK analysis working paper asks whether minimum standards have become less generous than in the past and if so why. It examines which items and activities in the 2012 PSE attitudes to necessities survey are considered by a majority of people to be necessary for an acceptable standard of living in the UK todayCategory: Result analysis -
07/10/2013
Harmonised UK Omnibus 2012
This statistical briefing sets out the harmonisation that was carried out to ensure that there was comparability between NatCen and NISRA Omnibus surveys in the following areas: necessities; household membership and composition; socio-demographic variables; additional variables from Omnibus surveys in GB and NI; and sample and population weightings.Category: Statistical note -
02/10/2013
100 questions about poverty
Progress in reducing or preventing poverty in the UK could be helped by the answers to 100 important research questions, according to a new report. The questions have been identified by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge, based on an exercise involving 45 participants from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and research. They cover a range of themes, and indicate areas of particular research interest.
Category: Reports -
20/09/2013
Material deprivation in EU – alternative measure
An alternative 13-item indicator produces a more accurate measurement of material deprivation in the European Union than the existing one, according to a paper by researchers from the Centre for Social Policy at Antwerp University.
The paper considers the new indicator's potential impact on the size of the population deemed to be deprived, the socio-demographic characteristics of this population and the Europe 2020 social inclusion target.Category: Reports -
05/09/2013
‘China effect’ on global inequality
Trends in China are the dominant factor in global inequality trends since the late 1980s, according to a study by academics at the Center for Global Development in Washington (USA). The paper proposes an alternative approach to measuring global inequality based on consumption patterns, which suggests that progress in reducing inequality has been slower than sometimes portrayed.
Category: Reports -
22/08/2013
Redistribution impact – income definition ‘key’
The redistributive effect of tax and benefit systems depends heavily on the way in which income is defined, says a new working paper from the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
The paper examines how the distribution of income in three European countries (the UK, Belgium and Greece) changes when the standard definition of disposable income is replaced by a wider definition. The latter takes into account three 'I's – indirect taxes, imputed rent on owner-occupied housing, and in-kind benefits.Category: Reports -
12/07/2013
Measuring multi-dimensional poverty
A new method for measuring multi-dimensional poverty is rigorous, easy to unpack and use for policy, and also flexible enough for different contexts, according to a research centre at Oxford University which has pioneered the approach.
The Alkire Foster (or 'AF') method counts the overlapping or simultaneous deprivations that a person or household experiences in different indicators. People are identified as multi-dimensionally poor if the weighted sum of their deprivations is greater than or equal to a chosen poverty cut-off point. Having identified who is poor, the method then summarises information to show the deprivations experienced by those in poverty as a proportion of all possible deprivations in society.
Category: Reports -
20/06/2013
Can relative poverty be abolished?
The idea that if poverty is relative it will always be with us is a common misconception, argues John Veit-Wilson. 'Relative poverty' can be abolished if no one has fewer resources than needed to achieve that society’s minimum standards.
Category: Articles -
10/06/2013
Absolute poverty in America higher than in 1969
Despite using a 40-year old absolute standard, child poverty in the US has increased dramatically from 14% to 22% as Salvatore Babones reports here.
Category: Articles
