A Multi-Method Approach To Monitor the Evolution of Poverty

Abstract

In this article the authors present the results of research on the evolution of income poverty, insecurity of subsistence and relative deprivation. Using socio-economic panel data of the late 1980s in The Netherlands (1985- 88) they sketch the incidence and distribution of poverty applying a multi-method approach, in which income and consumption approaches of poverty are used as complements to each other. Their results show that income and consumption- deprivation based standards provide complementary insights into the issue of poverty. If social policies are not solely aimed at the provision of a 'minimum income guarantee' but also at the combat of 'social exclusion', income standards are inadequate as monitoring devices. The information of the latter should be complemented by using a multidimensional deprivation standard that is capable of covering a broader range o f living conditions or aspects of life than just income. This recommendation holds for the national level. Yet, also at the European level it should be a guiding principle for monitoring social policies at the level of the Community and its member states. As regards the panel information it appears that income mobility within the poor and the non-poor population is very high, though for a considerable part of the population the poverty status seems to be a rather permanent attribute. From their research the authors recommend the elaboration of a panel research device to enable member states to monitor the evolution in the basic social institutions and to assess the impact of internal social shifts like marriage instability as well as the impact of 1992 on their economies, employment structures and social protection systems. Such a panel device in the form of a Community wide household panel on income, social protection systems and labour market policies could give the member states and their Community the tool needed for creating and monitoring efficient and effective policy instruments to resolve the challenges of the years ahead.