Chapter 26 Chapter Summary

This chapter examined the evaluation of thinking around poverty, the main approaches to poverty measurement, and the importance of poverty measurement for policy. It is evident that poverty is a fluid concept and that its meaning differs depending on time, place, and group under consideration. Monetary poverty and multi-dimensional poverty represent two broad but main categories of poverty measurement. While monetary poverty measurement has dominated development discourse until recently (and some may argue it still does), multi-dimensional poverty measurement has gained prominence and is now considered a viable or preferred alternative by some. Ultimately, poverty is in the “eye of the beholder”: different approaches to poverty measurement suggest different magnitudes of the problem and identify different groups as being poor. Complementary and comprehensive poverty measurement is therefore essential for gaining insight into the reality on the ground and allowing for the formulation of adequate and appropriate policies.