Poverty measurement

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.

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.

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.

Counting the number of people living in poverty worldwide is difficult, says a new paper, but there are a number of things that can be done to improve the quality of data.

The paper comes from an independent organisation focusing on the analysis and use of data for the elimination of absolute poverty. It explains how global poverty numbers are obtained; explores weaknesses in the data; and describes the underlying constraints on improving data. It concludes by looking at solutions to these problems, as well as changes in the scope of, and demand for, poverty data.