Poverty measurement and policy

Abstract

The measurement of poverty is a contested academic exercise and a very controversial political issue. There is no single, accepted method of either conceptualising or measuring poverty. Each method of analysis results in identifying a different proportion of the population (as having an inadequate standard of living). This means that for different family, age or ethnic groupings, there may be a greater (or lesser) likelihood of being poor. Inevitably, the determination of who is poor has a major impact on the choice of policy measures to alleviate and ameliorate that poverty.