Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A New Index for Developing ... - OPHI

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Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A New Index for Developing CountriesAlkire & SantosFigure 18: Summary MPI and income poverty estimates by UN regionsRegionPopulationin theregion(millions)Regional H(Proportion) Regional ARegionalMPIMPI poorpopulation(millions)$1.25/daypoor(Proportion)$1.25/daypoorpopulation(millions)$2/day poor(Proportion)$2/daypoorpopulation(millions)Central and Eastern Europe and theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 400 0.030 0.421 0.013 12.2 0.055 22.0 0.098 39.4Latin America and Caribbean 490.8 0.104 0.462 0.048 51.0 0.074 36.5 0.150 73.7East Asia and the Pacific 1867.7 0.137 0.465 0.063 255.0 0.173 323.7 0.385 719.9Arab States 217.5 0.179 0.506 0.090 38.9 0.031 6.8 0.144 31.3South Asia 1543.9 0.547 0.532 0.291 843.8 0.402 620.3 0.740 1143.1Sub-Saharan Africa 710.4 0.644 0.582 0.375 457.5 0.520 369.5 0.730 518.3Total 104 countries 5230.3 0.317 0.532 0.169 1658.3 0.264 1378.8 0.483 2525.7Composition of MPI by Region. A natural question is whether the composition of poverty variesacross regions of the world to identify whether deprivation in a particular dimension is more acute incertain regions than in others. It is important to note that this analysis needs to consider both therelative contribution of each dimension to overall poverty as well as the absolute levels the MPIpoor experience in each dimension. All the figures mentioned below are contained in Tables 1.4-1.6in Appendix 1.1) South AsiaIn terms of human lives, South Asia has the world’s highest levels of poverty. Fifty-one percent ofthe population of Pakistan is MPI poor, 58 percent in Bangladesh, 55 percent in India, and 65percent in Nepal. In these four countries, the poor are deprived on average in more than half of the(weighted) indicators. In India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, deprivation in living standard is the highestcontributor of poverty, followed by health and education. In Pakistan the contributions are fairlysimilar (note that Pakistan did not have information on nutrition). Sri Lanka is the only one of thefive countries we consider in this region that has low poverty estimates, with only 5 percent of MPIpoorpeople. The headcounts of the other four countries are relatively more uniform than in otherregions. It is worth noting that water has low deprivation levels among the MPI poor in thesecountries (the highest being 14 percent in Nepal). Also, electricity has a low deprivation rate amongthe MPI poor in Pakistan (9 percent). However, deprivation in the other living standard indicators(and in electricity in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal) range from 26 percent to 63 percent, beingparticularly high in Nepal. Deprivation rates in the two health indicators are also high: 30 percent inPakistan and Nepal are poor and live in a household where at least one child died; this rate is 24percent in Bangladesh and 23 percent in India. Deprivation in nutrition of children and women ishigh, signaled by the fact that 40 percent of people in Nepal and 39 percent in India live in a poorhousehold where at least one child or woman is undernourished. This rate is 37 percent inBangladesh (there are no figures for Pakistan). Although education is the lowest contributor topoverty, deprivation rates are still high: between 17 percent and 29 percent of people in these fourcountries are poor and live in a household where no one completed five years of education. Thirtyfourpercent of the poor in Pakistan, 25 percent in India, and 15 percent in Nepal live in ahousehold where one or more children are not attending school. It is worth noting that inBangladesh only 9 percent of people live in poor households with children not attending school.Note that these country averages hide a huge diversity. In Section 4.4 below we decompose India’spoverty by state and find headcounts ranging from 14 percent to 81 percent.www.ophi.org.uk July 2010 46
Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A New Index for Developing CountriesAlkire & Santos2) Sub-Saharan AfricaAfrica presents the highest MPI poverty rates, with considerable variation among the 38 countries.The percentage of multidimensionally poor ranges from 3 percent in South Africa to 93 percent inNiger, while the average percentage of deprivations ranges from 44 percent in Swaziland to 69percent in Niger. In 33 of the estimated Sub-Saharan African countries, the highest contributor topoverty is the deprivation measured by the living standard variables. Some of the most strikingresults include: In Guinea, Mali, and Niger, more than 50 percent are poor and live in a household whereat least one child has died. In Nigeria, Madagascar, Mali, and Burkina Faso 30 percent or more are poor and live in ahousehold where at least a woman or a child is undernourished. In Liberia, the Central African Republic, Mali, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Niger, morethan 55 percent are poor and live in a household where there are children of school agenot attending school. In Mozambique, Guinea, Burundi, Mali, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Niger, more than 50percent are poor and live in a household where no one has completed five years ofeducation.3) Latin America and the Caribbean:The poverty estimates in the eighteen Latin American and Caribbean countries present a widevariety, from 1.6 percent of MPI poor in Uruguay and 2.2 percent in Ecuador to 57 percent inHaiti. In the middle, there is Colombia with 9.2 percent, Brazil with 8.5 percent, and Bolivia with36 percent. However, the average deprivation is more stable, ranging from 34 percent in Uruguay to58 percent in Suriname. Clearly, Haiti is the country with the most striking deprivation levels: 50percent are poor and are deprived in electricity, 53 percent lack improved sanitation, 34 percent lackan improved water source, 35 percent lack an adequate floor, 57 percent are deprived in nonbiomasscooking fuel and 49 percent in assets. In Nicaragua, deprivation in the living standardvariables is between 24 and 36 percent; in Peru, Honduras, and Bolivia, it ranges from 12 percent to35 percent. Living standard deprivation is 12 percent or lower in all the others except for Guatemala,where such deprivation ranges from 3 percent to 23 percent. With respect to deprivation ineducation and health, it is worth noting that 23 percent of people in Bolivia and Honduras live in apoor household where a school-age child is not attending school. Also, 27 percent of people in Haitiand 19 percent in Bolivia live in a poor household that experienced a child death, while 11 percentof people in Haiti live in a poor household with an undernourished woman or child.4) East Asia and Pacific:Thailand and China have relatively low poverty estimates: China has 13 percent of people who areMPI poor, 64 while Thailand has only 0.8 percent. At the other extreme, Cambodia has 54 percent ofMPI poor, who on average are deprived in half of the (weighted) indicators. Indonesia issomewhere in the middle with 21 percent MPI poor. In terms of poverty composition, deprivationin living standard is the highest contributor in Mongolia and Cambodia, although clearly, thedeprivation levels in Cambodia are far higher than in Mongolia. In Cambodia, 50 percent or more of64 We also calculated China’s MPI using the CHNS, and found that 7 percent of people were poor according to it. Butthis survey covers only nine provinces of the country. As the WHS survey is also quite small, covering just under 4,000households, we refrain from making detailed analyses.www.ophi.org.uk July 2010 47
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