The overlap between income poverty and material deprivation: sensitivity evidence for Australia

Abstract

Many studies have noted the low overlap between income poverty and material deprivation when the latter is derived using the consensual approach that builds on the work of Townsend. However, few have examined the contributing factors and even fewer have assessed the sensitivity of the overlap to different approaches and adjustments. This paper uses Australian data to examine the impact on the overlap of data adjustments and three substantive factors: short-run income fluctuations, housing costs and net wealth. The analysis shows that accounting for two of these factors leads to a marked increase in the overlap between poverty and deprivation.

Comparing the Monetary and Living Standards Approaches to Poverty Using the Australian Experience

“…The deprivation module is included in waves 14 (2014) and 18 (2018) of Hilda and is planned for inclusion in wave 22(2022). The first wave of this data has been analysed bySaunders and Naidoo (2018;2019a, 2019b.4 Examples include the 'indicator dashboard' used in Canada or as one component of a multidimensional index, as in New Zealand. Details of the Canadian indicator dashboard is available at: https:// www.…”

The use of the consensual approach for the improvement of existing multidimensional poverty data in Latin America: an illustration based on data from the City of Buenos Aires

“…However, its implementation requires changes to current data collection instruments and a better understanding of the relevance and suitability of relative deprivation theory for the region. Among the shortcomings of the method, literature has focused on the effect of adaptive preferences in contexts of deprivation (Nussbaum, 2001) but no evidence of this problem was identified in this case (similar results can be found, for example, in Nandy and Pomati, 2015;UNICEF, 2019;Lau et al, 2019;Saunders and Naidoo, 2020). Regarding empirical issues, difficulties might be associated with the need for frequent revisions of the set of indicators, as well as the use of a relatively longer, and to some extent, more complex questionnaire, than those usually employed.…”

“…It has been implemented in developed, developing, highly unequal and somewhat equal big and small countries. For example, for the European Union (Guio et al, 2016;2017), Australia and Hong Kong (Lau et al, 2019;Saunders and Naidoo, 2020) and for countries like Uganda, Benin, South Africa and the islands in the South Pacific (Wright and Novel, 2013;Nandy and Pomati, 2015;Pomati and Nandy, 2020). In Mexico, the CA was conducted in 2007 by CONEVAL to inform the selection of the thresholds of some of the indicators (Guillen, 2017).…”

Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare

“…We saw in the previous sections that the relationship between income poverty and material deprivation (as measured with the overlap between the two measures) can be weak, as highlighted in the literature (Whelan & Maître, 2006;Saunders & Yuvisthi, 2020). 14 In this section we attempt to formalise this relationship with a statistical modelling exercise.…”