Methodological issues in the measurement of poverty : an analysis of two poverty surveys in Lestho

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study analyses poverty and deprivation in Lesotho on the basis of data from twocomprehensive household surveys undertaken in 1993 and 1999. The aim of thisstudy was to create a better understanding of poverty and deprivation in Lesotho. Theanalysis shows that the mountain areas of Lesotho suffer the worst levels of povertyand inequality both in terms of income/consumption and non-income measurescompared to the other areas of the country. Poverty was found to be highest amongsthouseholds with older heads and higher mean numbers of members. The poor werefound to suffer from lack of resources, access to education, basic services such asclean water, proper sanitation facilities and modem energy sources, and have littleaccess to productive resources. The study uses an income-based definition of povertyfor most of the analysis. In addition, it develops a broad-based index of deprivationincluding access to services, education, employment, income, and number of durableassets and traditional wealth. While on average the two indicators correspond fairlyclosely, the income poverty measure fails to capture those households that aredeprived of many of the non-income measures of well-being. The broader deprivationmeasure provides a more comprehensive understanding of poverty. The conclusionsarrived at when the two measures are used show that the concepts and indicators thatone uses to measure poverty and deprivation matter a lot in identifying the poor sincedifferent conceptions of poverty/deprivation identify different groups with differentcharacteristics as poor. The results also suggest the need for the use of differentmeasures of poverty.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University