Poverty measurement in times of crises

Abstract

In this paper we show that the traditional measures of poverty most commonly used in policy-making are not adequate to give a precise picture of the social problems created or exacerbated by the recent crises, in particular inflation. This leads to the need to use a broader set of indicators to measure poverty. Since in practice data on poverty and deprivation are based on surveys, social policy is faced with the dilemma that an adequate measure of poverty cannot at the same time serve as a criterion for automated decisions on the support of certain individuals. Yet this is exactly what is needed for policies that want to target support to those affected by poverty. Thus, accuracy could only be achieved in individual case decisions, such as those made in social work (e.g., social assistance). Such decisions would have to consider the dimensions of minimum standards that we present in this article. However, since it would be problematic for many reasons to shift the tasks of social policy to social work, it is becoming increasingly important to use preventive social policy in order to keep the number ofindividuals whose basic needs cannot be met by conventional (social) policy measures as small as possible. It is therefore important to close the existing gaps in income replacement policies (e.g., minimum income) as well as in education, health, family, care, housing, and labour market policies.