The core issue of this book is how to define and measure poverty in relatively rich countries in a way which is valid, meaningful in the context, and valuable for policy-making. The authors concentrate on the identification of the poor, rather than the subsequent aggregation of the statistics to derive an overall index of poverty--which is the focus of most recent literature. They show that poverty in developed countries cannot be understood and measured simply using current income. Those who are excluded from participation in society can be more accurately identified if broader measures of resources and direct idicators of deprivation are used. The issues are illustrated by data from a specially designed survey of a large representative sample of Irish households.
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From the Back Cover:
Poverty alleviation is a central aim of economic and social policy, and yet there is no consensus about what poverty means or how it is best measured. Often, the households below an income poverty line are counted as poor, but there may be no firm basis for concentrating on that particular income level. There may also be wide variations among the households below any income poverty line in terms of their actual living standards. This book explores what poverty means in developed countries, and shows that understanding and measuring it requires widening the focus beyond current income. By using broader measures of resources and information on living patterns and concrete indicators of deprivation, it shows how those who are effectively excluded from participation in society due to lack of resources can be more accurately identified, and the processes producing such exclusion better understood. The core issue of this book is how to define and measure poverty in relatively rich countries in a way which is valid, meaningful in the context, and valuable for policy-making. Extensive analysis of data from a specially designed survey of a large representative sample of Irish households is used to illustrate the arguments.
About the Author:
Brian Nolan is a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin.
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- PublisherClarendon Press
- Publication date1996
- ISBN 10 0198287852
- ISBN 13 9780198287858
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages272