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What would a robust definition of poverty be? I think you'd have to get away from the concept of money, and define it as a lack of, or a lack of a way to get, a
by ph0rque 11y ago
What would a robust definition of poverty be? I think you'd have to get away from the concept of money, and define it as a lack of, or a lack of a way to get, any of the following:
* shelter
* transportation
* food
* medical care
* education
- dcre 11y agoAmartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have worked to popularize something kind of like that, though your list is more oriented toward material things than theirs is. They call it the capabilities approach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach Edit: here is Nussbaum's list, pulled from the Wikipedia article: Life Bodily Health Bodily Integrity Senses, Imagination, and Thought Emotions Practical Reason Affiliation [social interaction] Other Species Play Control over one's environment (political and material)
- lmm 11y agoEven that is very relative. What quality of housing? Of food? There are lifesaving medical procedures that even the richest struggle to afford, if the condition is rare enough (IIRC someone on HN posted about paying for genetic testing for him and his wife, $8k each, to figure out what their son's condition was - is that something you're "poor" if you can't afford?). It's even clearer with education - is basic schooling enough? Are you "poor" if you can't afford to do a PhD?
- ph0rque 11y agoAgreed. But perhaps we can come up with a general framework for identifying extreme poverty (that's on par with the $1.25/day threshold currently being used).
- NoMoreNicksLeft 11y agoWe should definitely start with the necessities of life. Food and clean water, hygiene (it sounds dumb, but being able to bathe is a luxury in some places), dental care is probably more important than medical just from the standpoint that more need it... Shelter would definitely be on the list. Energy probably. Transportation probably not. How to define the minimums... not entirely sure. Simplistic formula are liable to be downright unpleasant (daily calories) if distorted in situations like the "lowest bidder provides". Anything more than simplistic will soon turn into a designed-by-committee mess. Clean water is the only easy one to define. Measured in gallons or liters, no contamination from toxins, no contamination that makes it unpalatable to a reasonable person. Even energy can take many forms... electricity, cooking fuel, heating. If you live on the equator, no need for heating, but in northern climes it is a matter of survival. And the exchange rates between various forms of energy aren't constant, not even within a single locale.