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The conventional approach of economists to the measurement of poverty is to use measures of income or consumption. This has been challenged by those who favour broader criteria, such as fulfillment of 'basic needs' and the 'capabilities' to be and to do things of intrinsic worth. This paper asks: to what extent are these different concepts measurable, to what extent are they competing or complementary, and is it possible for them to be accommodated within an encompassing framework? We conclude that it is possible to view subjective well-being as an encompassing concept, which permits us to quantify the relevance and importance of the other approaches and of their component variables. Any attempt to define poverty involves a value judgment as to what constitutes a good quality of life or a bad one. We argue that an approach which examines the individual's own perception of well-being is less imperfect, or more quantifiable, or both, as a guide to forming that value judgement than are the other potential approaches. The argument is illustrated using a South African household survey. Adapted from the source document.

What is poverty? Is it do to with what we have compared to others around us, or is it to do with what we need to survive? This book looks at the causes and effects of extreme poverty - defined as having less than US1.90 a day to live on - and discusses how poverty is also a serious issue in the developed or industrialised world. It looks at what is what is being done to tackle extreme poverty and asks readers to think about what they can do to help those facing poverty, for example by donating to a local food bank. Age 9+

Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we calculate historical poverty estimates based on the new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) from 1967 to 2012. During this period, poverty as officially measured has stagnated. However, the official poverty measure (OPM) does not account for the effect of near-cash transfers on the financial resources available to families, an important omission since such transfers have become an increasingly important part of government anti-poverty policy. Applying the SPM, which does count such transfers, we find that historical trends in poverty have been more favorable than the OPM suggests and that government policies have played an important and growing role in reducing poverty --- a role that is not evident when the OPM is used to assess poverty. We also find that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns.

This second edition of this highly-successful glossary provides an exhaustive and authoritative guide to over 200 technical terms used in contemporary scholarly research on poverty. It seeks to make researchers, students and policy makers aware of the multi-dimensional character of this social condition. The new edition includes a range of entries to keep pace with an expanding field of discourse, an expanded set of references and further perspectives from developing countries. A special effort has been made to incorporate non-Western approaches and concepts

AbstractUsing data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we provide poverty estimates for 1967 to 2012 based on a historical supplemental poverty measure (SPM). During this period, poverty, as officially measured, has stagnated. However, the official poverty measure (OPM) does not account for the effect of near‐cash transfers on the financial resources available to families, an important omission since such transfers have become an increasingly important part of government antipoverty policy. Applying the historical SPM, which does count such transfers, we find that trends in poverty have been more favorable than the OPM suggests and that government policies have played an important and growing role in reducing poverty—a role that is not evident when the OPM is used to assess poverty. We also find that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns.

Poverty is often defined as lacking the financial resources to meet a set of basic needs. Here I consider four questions. First, how is the relevant level of basic needs to be determined? Second, given that the possibility of satisfying basic needs is not solely determined by possession of financial resources, is poverty better understood or measured at least in part in non-financial terms? Third, what, if anything, is owed to people in poverty, and by whom? And finally, what social policies should be favoured in attempting to deal with poverty? The key message is that overcoming poverty is more than meeting needs for food and shelter, but also includes meeting the human needs for a social life and fitting in with what is commonly expected in society (overcoming relative poverty). Out of respect for all, governments have a duty to adopt policies to bring people out of poverty.

AbstractPoverty can be an ephemeral life stage of a young person whose skill sets will become more valuable with training and experience, a personal setback such as losing a job, or a systemic affliction that puts a whole community in danger of widespread famine. A common theme of this volume's essays is that we cannot understand poverty and famine unless we acknowledge that poor people are not mouths to be fed but agents. Amartya Sen got this right, crediting Adam Smith for the seeds of his insight. What has been enabling people by the billions since Smith's time to work their way out of poverty?

"Im Vortrag wird das theoretische Vakuum erläutert, in dem sich die Armutsforscher in den postsozialistischen Ländern befinden. Dies liegt zum einen an der geringen Vertrautheit mit den theoretischen Diskussionen im Westen, zum anderen daran, daß bei einer Ähnlichkeit äußerer Erscheinungsformen Armut in Rußland und in den Ländern mit entwickelter Marktwirtschaft sehr unterschiedlich ist und keiner einheitlicher Messung unterzogen werden kann. Unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze in Rußland selbst bedingen eine große Bandbreite des vermuteten Armutsausmaßes: zwischen acht bis 80 Prozent der Bevölkerung werden als 'arm' bezeichnet. Die verwendeten Methoden, die auf die Traditionen der sowjetischen Soziologie zurückzuführen sind, verabsolutieren quantitative Messungen. Ausführungen aus Ergebnisanalysen von Massenumfragen spiegeln dagegen die 'Parteilichkeit' der Forscher wider. Ein großer Teil der Einkommen der verschiedenen sozialen Gruppen werden weder von der Statistik erfaßt noch von den Wissenschaftern, die sich mit der Schattenwirtschaft beschäftigen. Schon aus diesem Grunde wird das Armutsausmaß sehr stark übertrieben, ganz unabhängig von den angewandten Methoden. Die meisten gegenwärtig beobachtbaren Überlebensstrategien sind mit Beschäftigungen im informellen Sektor verbunden. Dennoch wird dieser Umstand von den Soziologen ignoriert, insbesondere deshalb, weil qualitative Methoden der Sozialforschung entweder unbekannt sind oder abgelehnt werden. Die offizielle Statistik und bisherige Forschungsergebnisse ergeben völlig unangemessene Vorstellungen über Armut und folglich über soziale Ungleichheit und die sich erneuernde Sozialstruktur in der Transformationsgesellschaft. Dazu kommt, daß die Forschung durch einige etablierte Forschungsgruppen monopolisiert wird, auf deren ausgesprochen politisierter Tätigkeit das geläufige Bild über Armut in Rußland beruht. Auch die Übertragung von Modellen, die anhand der Beobachtung westlicher Gesellschaften erarbeitet wurden, wirkt sich negativ auf die Theoriebildung - und letztlich auf die politische Entscheidungsfindung - aus." (Autorenreferat)