Conceptual Debates on Poverty Measurement: The Use of Qualitative Expert Consultation to Guide Methodological Decision-making in Designing a Multidimensional Child-Poverty Measure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Pinilla-Roncancio ◽  
Amy E. Ritterbusch ◽  
Sharon Sanchez-Franco ◽  
Catalina González-Uribe ◽  
Sandra García-Jaramillo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Expert Consultation ◽  
Poverty Measure

scholarly journals Poverty Measurement and Choice of Poverty Reduction Strategy: The Importance of Poverty Measurement in Determining the Right Strategy

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 595-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudy Badrudin
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Robustness Analysis ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Statistical Testing ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Poverty Measure ◽  
Reduction Strategy ◽  
Poverty Measures ◽  
Poverty Reduction Strategy

This study aimed at testing the poverty measurement and the choice of poverty reduction strategy by using the data in four regencies and one municipal in Special Province of Yogyakarta (Indonesia). The study observed the number of poor people in those regions for eight-year periods (2001-2008) after the Law of Local Government Autonomy was in force in 2000. By using averagely 140 observations for each regency and municipal and employing ANOVA 2-Ways Analysis, the empirical results surprisingly revealed that only one regency and municipal produced nearly correct measurement on poverty. As to inter-temporal comparisons of the poverty number for each region, the statistical testing validated the inconsistency of poverty measure used. It gave evidence that the choice of poverty lines and poverty measures was a product of local government’s arbitrary decision, and of course, based on the finding; it called for robustness analysis of the poverty measurement used by the local government. To this respect, the choice of poverty reduction strategy should be seen as the free-vested interest decision in determining the poverty measurement. It needs a customization strategy based on the measure taken.

scholarly journals Dimensions of poverty measurement

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Child Support ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Expert Advisory ◽  
Housing Costs

In December 2012 the Office of the Children’s Commissioner produced a report on Solutions to Child Poverty in New Zealand: evidence for action (Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, 2012a, 2012b). This wide-ranging report provided a detailed analysis of the causes and consequences of child poverty, as well as providing a range of policy solutions to the various dimensions of child poverty. Recommendations were not limited to just increasing the level of disposable income for poor households: the report also made policy recommendations in relation to health care, housing costs and standards, educational attainment, labour markets and local community support, plus issues of child support, the justice sector and problem debt. All of these recommendations were set in an ethnic context, with specific attention given to the particular issues pertaining to addressing poverty in Māori and Pasifika communities. 

USA Child Poverty: The Impact of the Great Recession

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wimer ◽  
Timothy M. Smeeding
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Median Income ◽  
Relative Poverty ◽  
Poverty Measure ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact

The Great Recession (GR) was the most dramatic economic downturn the USA has experienced in more than six decades. But against this backdrop, the USA actually made some limited progress against child poverty over the Great Recession when one considers the new US Supplemental Poverty Measure which lies at about 40 per cent of median income. The main reason was the growth of a well-targeted near cash safety net, combined with earnings enhancements in the form of refundable tax credits. These enhancements helped the working poor, but not many parents of children who could not find jobs. However these improvements had little if any effect on relative poverty counted at a European or cross-national relative poverty standard set at 60 per cent of median income. Greater progress against child poverty in the US requires a continued strong job market coupled with a child allowance.

A Rights-Based Approach to Child Poverty Measurement and Child Rights Realisation in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-198
Author(s):  
Anthony Shuko Musiwa
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Child Rights

Abstract Against the context of limited research in Zimbabwe on rights-focused child poverty research, policy and practice, this study employs the Bristol Approach to measure the extent and relationship with gender and location, respectively, of child poverty among children aged five years and below (N = 6418). Using Zimbabwe’s 2015 Demographic and Health Survey secondary data, 14 selected measures are tested for validity, reliability and additivity. Severe deprivation estimates are developed, showing the commonest deprivation forms as early childhood development (78 per cent), water (46 per cent), healthcare (44 per cent), sanitation (40 per cent), shelter (30 per cent) and nutrition (13 per cent). While boys and girls are similarly severely deprived, children in rural areas are the most severely deprived. While all deprivations are non-significantly correlated with gender, most are significantly correlated with location. Overall, the study highlights the extreme nature of child rights violations caused by poverty in Zimbabwe, and how rights-based child poverty measurement can better inform policy and practice responses.

scholarly journals Leaving No One Behind: Multidimensional Child Poverty in Botswana

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 2003-2030
Author(s):  
Khaufelo Raymond Lekobane ◽  
Keetie Roelen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Composite Measure ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Geographical Characteristics

Abstract Child poverty measurement is vital for informing policies and for improving children’s lives. Nevertheless, efforts to measure (child) poverty remain dominated mainly by monetary approaches, and many countries fail to monitor multidimensional child poverty. Using the 2015/2016 Botswana multi-topic household survey, this study developed a child-centred, individual-level and composite measure that offers nationally relevant and context-specific insights into the magnitude and depth of multidimensional child poverty in Botswana. In particular, it did so through the lens of Leave No One Behind (LNOB) by zooming in on demographic, economic and geographical characteristics that may be associated with greater vulnerability or marginalisation using both descriptive and regression analysis. Results point towards a relatively high incidence and depth of multidimensional child poverty in Botswana. Results show that disabled children, orphans, children living in larger families, families headed by unmarried couples and living in rural areas are more likely to be multidimensionally poor.

scholarly journals Identifying the Disadvantaged: Official Poverty, Consumption Poverty, and the New Supplemental Poverty Measure

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D Meyer ◽  
James X Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
College Graduates ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Poverty Measure ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
The Family ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
Income Data ◽  
Out Of Pocket Expenses ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
First Time

We discuss poverty measurement, focusing on two alternatives to the current official measure: consumption poverty, and the Census Bureau's new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) that was released for the first time last year. The SPM has advantages over the official poverty measure, including a more defensible adjustment for family size and composition, an expanded definition of the family unit that includes cohabitors, and a definition of income that is conceptually closer to resources available for consumption. The SPM's definition of income, though conceptually broader than pre-tax money income, is difficult to implement given available data and their accuracy. Furthermore, income data do not capture consumption out of savings and tangible assets such as houses and cars. A consumption-based measure has similar advantages but fewer disadvantages. We compare those added to and dropped from the poverty rolls by the alternative measures relative to the current official measure. We find that the SPM adds to poverty individuals who are more likely to be college graduates, own a home and a car, live in a larger housing unit, have air conditioning, health insurance, and substantial assets, and have other more favorable characteristics than those who are dropped from poverty. Meanwhile, we find that a consumption measure compared to the official measure or the SPM adds to the poverty rolls individuals who are more disadvantaged than those who are dropped. We decompose the differences between the SPM and official poverty and find that the most problematic aspect of the SPM is the subtraction of medical out-of-pocket expenses from SPM income. Also, because the SPM poverty thresholds change in an odd way over time, it will be hard to determine if changes in poverty are due to changes in income or changes in thresholds. Our results present strong evidence that a consumption-based poverty measure is preferable to both the official income-based poverty measure and to the Supplemental Poverty Measure for determining who are the most disadvantaged.

scholarly journals Work Hours Instability and Child Poverty: Response of the Safety-Net Programs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Y. Cai
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Hispanic Children ◽  
Poverty Measure ◽  
Percent Increase ◽  
The Face ◽  
Cash Benefits

This paper uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to investigate how intra-year caregiver work-hours volatility is related to child poverty, measured through both the official poverty measure (OPM) and the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). I further assess varying degrees of buffering effects of cash benefits, in-kind benefits, and tax transfers on income in the context of work-hours volatility. Results indicate that Black and Hispanic children, as well as those living with unpartnered single mothers, faced substantially higher variability in household market hours worked. Hispanic children experienced not only greater volatility in their caregivers’ work hours, but also higher poverty levels, even after taking government programs into account. I find that a 10 percent increase in intra-year hours volatility is linked to roughly a 2 percent and 1.6 percent increase in OPM and SPM child poverty, respectively. In-kind benefits are more effective in buffering household income declines resulting from unstable caregiver work hours, followed by tax transfers and cash benefits, which each offer somewhat less of a buffering effect. The effectiveness of near-cash benefits is particularly salient among Black children and children of unpartnered single mothers. Hispanic children also benefited from these transfers’ compensating effects, but to a lesser degree. These results provide new evidence to inform public policy discussions surrounding the best ways to help socioeconomically disadvantaged families to retain benefits and smooth their income in the face of frequent variation in work hours and, thus, earnings.

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