Ukraine's poor majority: Exploring the driving factors of subjective poverty

Abstract

Existing scholarship indicates that there are divergences between objective and subjective poverty; yet subjective poverty remains under-researched and not well understood. This research contributes to addressing this gap by identifying and exploring influential factors contributing to high rates of subjective poverty in Ukraine, where nearly 70 per cent of people self-identify as being poor. This rate is surprisingly high given that the World Bank and the National Statistical Service of Ukraine estimate poverty in the country to be around 30 per cent. To understand the drivers of high rates of subjective poverty, the thesis investigates the questions 'what does selfidentification as poor entail in the context of Ukraine?' and 'why does the attribution of subjective poverty not correlate with income and material circumstances?' The questions are explored through a qualitative case study in Rivne city in Western Ukraine, using recognition theory as the main theoretical lens. The analysis draws on data from 50 in-depth semi-structured interviews across low-and high-income groups and across three age groups, with individuals ranging from 20 to 81 years old.Completing this thesis has been a journey of personal and intellectual transformation, which would have been possible without the generous support of the Clarendon and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundations, to whom I am enormously grateful. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Fran Bennett, who has been incredibly patient, supportive, and encouraging throughout the last four years. I am further grateful to my examiners Professor Mary Daly, Professor Nicolas Duvoux, Professor