This report looks in detail at food insecurity among benefit claimants using YouGov surveys of the...
Poverty measurement
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06/09/2012
Can poverty be measured with income satisfaction data?
It may be possible to track poverty by reference to data on income satisfaction, according to a researcher in Germany. He sets out the results of matching survey data against existing poverty measures, such as the European Commission's '60 per cent of median income' measure.
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31/08/2012
Perceived necessities of life ‘strikingly consistent’
'Striking' consistency is found in the things that different groups of people perceive to be the 'necessities of life' in the UK today, according to a new study. The working paper – part of the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK project – used focus groups to examine people's perceptions of poverty, social exclusion and living standards.
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22/08/2012
Defining the Breadline: Is there a Northern Ireland Consensus? by Mike Tomlinson and Grace Kelly
The paper and presentation, presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 26 April 2012, report the findings of the Necessities of Life survey 2011 in Northern Ireland. The survey found a remarkable degree of consensus in respondents’ attitudes to necessities, between social groups and categories across income, occupation, community background and gender; though there are some significant differences, especially between young and old.
The results show that what most people think are necessities leads to a different set of indicators than those built into current deprivation rates (such as the EU measure). Mike Tomlinson’s contribution can be seen on the Northern Ireland Assembly website.
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17/08/2012
New Zealand
A presentation on poverty measurement in New Zealand was made by Bryan Perry, Ministry of Social Development, at the Second Peter Townsend Memorial Conference, Measuring Poverty: The State of the Art, in 2011.
The Ministry of Social Development in New Zealand has developed an Economic Living Standards Index (ELSI). This index is used to compare the material wellbeing of individuals and population subgroups but, in contrast to both the Townsend deprivation approach and the Mack and Lansley consensual method, the ELSI measures the full range of living standards rather than being just hardship-focused.
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17/08/2012
Australia
In 2014/15, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey used a new set of questions to examine deprivation poverty. It found 10.7% of the population was in deprivation poverty defined as those who lacked two or more necessities because they couldn't afford them.
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17/08/2012
Mexico
People in Mexcio have a relative and a wide view of what should constitute a minimum standard of living, covering essential services such as a pension, nursery care and housing credit as well as durables such as a fridge and computer. Read more.
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17/08/2012
Japan
Research into attitudes to necessities in Japan suggests that the Japanese public tends to have a more restrictive notion of what a minimum standard of living should encompass than in the UK. Nevertheless, there was also evidence of a consensus on the majority of adult items in terms of whether they constituted necessities or not. Read more.
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17/08/2012
Hong Kong
PSEHK reports that 21% of people in Hong Kong are living in poverty having a low income and a low standard of living and more than 27% of children. Accommodation is a particular problem with more than 50% reporting problems. Read more about the full results of this detailed survey of living standards in Hong Kong.
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17/08/2012
Mauritania
A presentation on poverty measurement in West Africa looking at the survey of living conditions in Mauritania was made by Madior Fall, AFRISTAT, at the Second Peter Townsend Memorial Conference, Measuring Poverty: The State of the Art, in 2011.
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17/08/2012
Sweden
A presentation on poverty measurement in Sweden was made by Björn Halleröd, University of Gothenburg, at the Second Peter Townsend Memorial Conference, Measuring Poverty: The State of the Art, in 2011.
In 1992, Halleröd undertook a study looking at which aspects of Swedish standards of living were seen as necessities and those who could not afford these items. The table below gives a summary of the findings (final sample size 793 persons).
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