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Income Poverty (income + poverty)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

A Consistent Poverty Approach to Assessing the Sensitivity of Income Poverty Measures and Trends

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2008
Peter Saunders
This paper examines the sensitivity of estimates of income poverty rates and trends to variations in the poverty line and to whether or not certain households are included or excluded from the sample used to estimate poverty. The approach draws on the concept of consistent poverty, which has been used to identify those with incomes below the poverty line who also experience deprivation. Our approach involves excluding households with incomes below the poverty line if they report zero or negative income or are self-employed, have expenditure well in excess of their income, have substantial wealth holdings, or if they do not report having experienced financial stress over the past year. The combined impact of all four exclusions is to reduce the half-median income poverty rate from 9.9 per cent to 5.4 per cent, but also suggests that poverty increased by more over the decade to 2003,04 than the original estimates indicate. [source]

Escaping Violence, Seeking Freedom: Why Children in Bangladesh Migrate to the Street

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2007
Alessandro Conticini
ABSTRACT In Bangladesh, as in many developing countries, there is a widespread belief amongst the public, policy makers and social workers that children ,abandon' their families and migrate to the street because of economic poverty. Ignoring and avoiding mounting evidence to the contrary, this dominant narrative posits that children whose basic material needs cannot be met within the household move to the street. This article explores this narrative through the analysis of detailed empirical research with children in Bangladesh. It finds that social factors lie behind most street migration and, in particular, that moves to the street are closely associated with violence towards and abuse of children within the household and local community. These findings are consistent with the wider literature on street migration from other countries. In Bangladesh, those who seek to reduce the flow of children to the streets need to focus on social policy, especially on how to reduce the excessive control and emotional, physical and sexual violence that occur in some households. Economic growth and reductions in income poverty will be helpful, but they will not be sufficient to reduce street migration by children. [source]

Poverty among households with children: a comparative study of Norway and Germany

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 4 2006
Hans-Tore Hansen
The purpose of this study was to compare poverty among lone parent households and couple households with children in Norway and Germany. The study applied three different measurement strategies: income poverty, material deprivation and reception of social assistance. We found that income poverty and material deprivation rates are higher in Germany than in Norway and are also higher for lone parents than for couples with children. Our analysis of the reception of social assistance shows a different pattern in which both Norwegian and German lone parents frequently receive social assistance. The results show that the different dimensions of poverty are not independent of one another, nor do they wholly overlap. Household characteristic variables, factors influencing labour market status and educational levels also seem to influence the risk of experiencing poverty. [source]

Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2003

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2004
Richard Reading
The New Policy Institute has produced its sixth annual report of indicators of poverty and social exclusion. This year's report focuses on regional variations across England, Scotland and Wales. With 5 years of data now available to measure progress since Labour came to office in 1997, it is becoming much clearer where the Government's strategy for combating poverty and social exclusion is being successful , and where it is not. With the number of people living in low-income households now on a steady downward trend, the latest figures (for 2001/2002) passed the notable milestone of taking income poverty lower than at any time in the 1990s. The main reason why the number of people in low-income households fell in the 5 years to 2001/2002 is that there were fewer people in workless households. But, over the same period, the number of people in low-income, working households did not fall. Out-of-work benefits to both working-age families with dependent children and to pensioners have risen by around 30% in real terms since 1998, faster than earnings. This, plus the rise in tax credits, will have had a significant impact on the severity of poverty suffered by some low-income households even when it has not taken them above the low-income threshold. In education, earlier progress in increasing the numbers of those with an adequate minimum level of qualification has stalled, with no further advance since 2000, compared with rapid progress during the second half of the 1990s. Around a quarter of young people at each of the ages of 11, 16 and 19 are still failing to reach a basic level of attainment. There is no sign of any reduction since 1997 in the health inequalities which leave people with low incomes more likely to suffer serious health-related problems. Across the range of indicators, problems of poverty and social exclusion are generally more prevalent in the North-east than in other areas of the country. London has particular problems centred on low income and work and Scotland has particular problems centred on health. [source]