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Measuring Poverty among Canadian Households: Sensitivity to Choice of Measure and Scale

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  • Shelley A. Phipps

Abstract

This paper uses microdata from the 1986 Statistics Canada Family Expenditure Survey to demonstrate that inequality-sensitive poverty measures such as the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (1984) index are as sensitive to the equivalence scale embodied in the poverty line as the more frequently used head count and poverty gap measures. Indices of the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke variety are useful, however, for revealing demographic subgroups experiencing extreme deprivation, information not provided by the more standard poverty measures. The paper also demonstrates that our understanding of the relative poverty experiences of important demographic subgroups such as children and the elderly can be influenced by our choice of equivalence scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Shelley A. Phipps, 1993. "Measuring Poverty among Canadian Households: Sensitivity to Choice of Measure and Scale," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(1), pages 162-184.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:28:y:1993:i:1:p:162-184
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    Cited by:

    1. Pendakur, Krishna, 2002. "Taking prices seriously in the measurement of inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 47-69, October.
    2. Gianni Betti & Mehmet Ali Karadag & Ozlem Sarica & Baris Ucar, 2017. "How to Reduce the Impact of Equivalence Scales on Poverty Measurement: Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1023-1035, July.
    3. Thomas F. Crossley & Krishna Pendakur, 2002. "Consumption Inequality," Department of Economics Working Papers 2002-09, McMaster University.
    4. Tomson Ogwang, 2022. "The Foster–Greer–Thorbecke Poverty Measures Reveal More," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1481-1503, December.
    5. Christos Koulovatianos & Carsten Schröder, 2023. "Income-dependent equivalence scales and choice theory: implications for poverty measurement," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 4, pages 39-49, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Sen, Anindya & Rybczynski, Kathleen & Van De Waal, Corey, 2011. "Teen employment, poverty, and the minimum wage: Evidence from Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 36-47, January.
    7. Thesia I. Garner & Kathleen Short, 2005. "Developing a New Poverty Line for the USA: Are There Lessons for India?," Working Papers 378, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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