- Most common definition by most governments.
- Uses poverty lines to define what poverty is.
- Defines poverty using income and sometimes expenditure.
- Easier to measure poverty this way. Objective and widely used.
- Problems: limited. Deflates % of population classified as poor. What about non-income
sources of poverty?
- Strategy: welfare, subsidies, job creation, wages
Basic Needs
- Approach of the World Bank
- Informed by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
- Basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, health and education.
- Popular in 1980s-1990s. Precursor to human development approach.
- Strategy: physical infrastructure, social infrastructure (clinics, schools)
- But.. Who decides what hunger is, what adequate shelter is?
Social Exclusion
- Northern governments and NGOs
- People are excluded / cut off from opportunities or resources.
- Focuses on inequality and opportunity deprivation.
- Generally in First World countries. People are excluded from mainstream benefits of the
society (welfare, general wealth) are prevented in some way from fully enjoying general
prosperity.
- Other examples other than poverty: labour market exclusion, service exclusion, exclusion
from social relations.
- Strategy: addressing cultural and political norms that make people unable or unwilling to
participate in society (institutionalised racism and sexism, geographical isolation)
Sustainable Livelihoods
- People must define their own poverty, and play a role in solving it.
- Southern NGOs, especially in rural areas
- Five “capitals” and their shortage:
Natural capital: land, water
Physical capital: transport, shelter
Human capital: skills, knowledge
Social capital: networks, groups, trust
Financial capital: savings, credit
- Participation of individuals and communities in defining and solving their poverty. Must be
key actors in identifying and addressing livelihood priorities.
, - Outsiders need processes that enable them to listen and respond to the poor.
- People are not all poor in the same way. There can be local variations in poverty.
- Strategy: enabling the poor to decide on their own political priorities. Recognising and
enhancing the asset base of the poor which enables them to cope.
Human Development
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- People-centred approach to development. Holistic understanding.
- Argues that income itself is not a good measure of the human dimensions of poverty.
- However: complex and difficult to measure.
- Strategy: activities ranging from job creation to infrastructure provision and enhanced
public participation.
Integrated definition of poverty
Related to income, basic needs, inclusion, sustainable livelihoods, and human development
12 Meanings of poverty
All applications can be applied simultaneously. Commonly understood in at least 12 discrete senses
in 3 clusters:
1. As a material concept: Need; Pattern of deprivation; Limited resources
2. As economic circumstances: Income; Standard of living; Inequality; Economic position;
Dependency; Lack of basic security; Lack of entitlement; Exclusion
3. As a moral judgement
Poverty as a material concept
- NEED: poverty as a lack of materials, goods or services. There is a need or lack of resources
to get things that are needed. Lack of well-being: welfare issues, status, power
- PATTERN OF DEPRIVATION: emphasize the seriousness of the deprivations that are
experiences: food and shelter often seen as most important. Deprivation over time.
Manifests in all dimensions of life.
- LIMITED RESOURCES: poverty can be a form of need caused by limited resources, often due
to income
Poverty as economic circumstances
- INCOME: a widely used approach. Poverty = low income.
- STANDARD OF LIVING: level of living, measured in terms of income or consumption, is below
standard. General experience of living with less than others.
- INEQUALITY: disadvantaged in comparison with others in society. Poverty from
disadvantage? But does a reduction in the resources available to the better-off lead to les
poverty?
- ECONOMIC POSITION: class. Economic position in society. Aspect of social structure
inequality. Marxist view: defined classes by relationship to means of production. Socio-
economic and economic position. Class linked to social + occupational roles.
- DEPENDENCY: poor are seen as those who receive social benefits in consequence of their
lack of means to support themselves. Rely on social benefits, becoming dependent on the
state.
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