Conclusion

Abstract

The motive for preparing international seminars and this book was a statement signed by 70 (later more than 100) European social scientists arguing that the meaning, measurement and explanation of poverty crossnationally had to be greatly improved and that a scientific basis for progress already existed (see pp 16-17 for the statement by European social scientists). In these pages we have sought to demonstrate this proposition. What conclusions can be drawn? 1.An objective, reliable and valid poverty line or threshold for different types of households can be established by calculating the income, including the monetary value of assets that are readily available, and the resources in kind or in services that are free or partially subsidised, that normatively allows individuals and families to escape from multiple forms of material and social deprivation, fulfil membership of society and participate in customary living standards – as assessed independently of income. Living standards need to be ranked for the entire population so that the severity and extent of material and social deprivation to be found among those with the lowest incomes can be demonstrated. Although other approaches to the understanding and measurement of poverty are important – such as the Minimum Income Standards (MIS) set implicitly or explicitly by governments, the arbitrarily-chosen income standards relative to mean or median income, the standards developed after close examination of household budgets or consumption and the standards perceived by representative groups within populations to apply to their own situations1 – and these help to complement the results derived from such research, this ‘core’ meaning deserves to attract precedence scientifically.