Poverty is defined as a denial of choices and opportunities that violates human dignity, characterized by lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, and education. It can be categorized into absolute poverty, which refers to severe deprivation of basic human needs, and relative poverty, which measures income inequality within a social context. The document discusses various poverty indices, including the Human Poverty Index and the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index, emphasizing that poverty is complex and measuring it is inherently problematic.

1. Defining and Measuring Poverty
• Absolute Poverty
• Relative Poverty
• Human Poverty Index
• Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index

2. Defining Poverty
“Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of
human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in
society. It means not having enough to feed and cloth a family, not having a
school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a
job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity,
powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It
means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile
environments, without access to clean water or sanitation”
(UN Statement, June 1998 – signed by the heads of all UN agencies)

3. Have a think about that definition:
Q1. Which countries in the world have no poverty
whatsoever by this definition?

4. We need to consider
Developed world poverty Developing world poverty

5. Two ways to think about poverty
Absolute Poverty Relative Poverty
Absolute poverty refers to a set Relative poverty views poverty as
standard which is consistent over socially defined and dependent
time and between countries. on social context, hence relative
poverty is a measure of income
inequality. Usually, relative
poverty is measured as the
percentage of population with
income less than some fixed
proportion of median income.

6. Poverty is…….
A very complicated
phenomenon that is inherently
problematic to measure

7. Defining Absolute Poverty
Absolute poverty was defined as
"a condition characterized by severe deprivation
of basic human needs, including food, safe
drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,
shelter, education and information. It depends not
only on income but also on access to services."
World Summit on Social Development in
Copenhagen in 1995,

8. Measuring Absolute/Relative? Poverty
Human Poverty Index 1 (HPI-1) Human Poverty Index 2 (HPI-2)
(Developing Countries) Selected OECD Countries
• Probability at birth of not • Probability at birth of not
surviving to age 60 (times 100)
surviving to age 40 (times 100)
• Adults lacking functional
• Adult illiteracy rate literacy skills
• Average of population without • Population below income
sustainable access to an poverty line (50% of median
adjusted household disposable
improved water source and income)
children under weight for age • Rate of long-term
unemployment (lasting 12
months or more)

9. And so………
‘The UN is attempting to create absolute measures of poverty in the developed world context
and in the developing world context.’
This is, of course, relativism but it does set out absolute measures that can be used for a basis
of comparison.

10. HPI-2 UK
The HPI-2 ranks 22 OECD (high levels of development )
countries

11. HPI-2 South Korea
Q2. Is there no poverty in South Korea or no data?
Q3. If either question is true how can we explain this?

12. HPI-1 China, DRC and South Africa
Q4. Input this data into Excel and create an appropriate chart to display it
China
DRC
South
Africa

13. The HPI was dropped by the UN as a
measure of poverty in 2010
Q5. What reasons do you think the UN had for dropping the HPI?
Q6. How would you replace the HPI?

14. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index
(MPI)

15. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index
(MPI)
Q6. In what ways do you think this measure is:
a) Better than the HPI?
b) Worse than the HPI?

16. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index
(MPI)
Q7. Present this data in a more meaningful way and then describe what it shows.

17. Summary
• Marginalization is the process of being relegated to an unimportant or
powerless position within society or a group.
• This is effectively relegating them to the periphery of society
• People in poverty are marginalized
• Poverty is hard to define and even harder to measure
• Nations are probably less inclined to measure poverty than
development
• Every country in the world has people in poverty.
• At every scale societies are becoming less equal even though absolute
poverty is decreasing