Material Deprivation: Measuring Poverty by Counting Necessities Households Cannot Afford

Abstract

Unique data from a 2013 Canadian survey were used to measure material deprivation. This outcome-based indicator of poverty was constructed of 17 necessities. When persons who cannot afford two or more items are considered materially deprived, material deprivation is found to affect 18.6 percent of Canadians. Of those, only 43 percent also have low income. Of Canadians with low income, only 50 percent are materially deprived. The experience of poverty-level living conditions thus regularly coincides with an income above the poverty threshold, and having low income does not guarantee material deprivation. Outcome-based poverty indicators such as material deprivation therefore offer new and relevant insights into understanding poverty and its policy solutions in Canada.