The poverty rate is one of the most visible ways in which nations measure the economic well-being of their low-income citizens. To gauge whether a person is poor, European states often focus on a person's relative position in the income distribution to measure poverty while the United States looks at a fixed-income threshold that represents a lower relative standing in the overall distribution to gauge.
In Europe, low income is perceived as only one aspect of being socially excluded, so that examining other relative dimensions of family and individual welfare is important. This broad emphasis on relative measures of well-being that extend into non-pecuniary aspects of people's lives does not always imply that more people would ultimately be counted as poor. This is particularly true if one must be considered poor in multiple dimensions to be considered poor, in sharp contrast to the American emphasis on income as the sole dimension.
With contributions from the world's foremost authorities on income and social measurement, the book provides detailed discussions of specific issues from a European perspective followed by commentary from American observers. The volume considers (1) current standards of poverty measurement in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2) challenges in extending those measures to account for the value of the provision of in-kind and cash benefits from the government, (3) the interaction of poverty measures with social assistance, (4) non-income but monetary measures of poverty, and (5) multi-dimensional measures of poverty. The result is a definitive reference for poverty researchers and policymakers seeking to disengage politics from measurement.
Edited by:
Douglas J. Besharov (Professor of Public Policy Professor of Public Policy University of Maryland College Park MD USA),
Kenneth A. Couch (Professor of Economics,
Professor of Economics,
University of Connecticut,
Storrs,
CT,
USA)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 160mm,
Width: 234mm,
Spine: 43mm
Weight: 816g
ISBN: 9780199860586
ISBN 10: 0199860580
Series: International Policy Exchange Series
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 30 August 2012
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Further / Higher Education
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction Douglas J. Besharov and Kenneth A. Couch Part I. European Measures of Income, Poverty, and Inequality 2. The OECD Approach to Measuring Income Distribution and Poverty Michael F. Förster and Marco Mira d'Ercole 3. Income Indicators for the EU's Social Inclusion Strategy Isabelle Maquet and David Stanton 4. Deconstructing European Poverty Measures Richard V. Burkhauser Part II. Broadening Measures of Income and Other Financial Resources 5. Accounting for the Distributional Effects of Non-cash Public Benefits Holly Sutherland and Panos Tsakloglou 6. Accounting for Imputed and Capital Income Flows Joachim R. Frick and Markus M. Grabka 7. Accounting for Employee Benefits Neil Gilbert 8. Impressionistic Realism: A European Focus on U.S. Poverty Measurement David S. Johnson Part III. Income Levels for Social Assistance and their Behavioral Effects 9. Minimum-Income Benefits in OECD Countries Herwig Immervoll 10. Social Assistance Schemes in Developing Countries Margaret Grosh, Carlo del Ninno, and Emil Tesliuc 11. Europe's Other Poverty Measures: Absolute Thresholds Underlying Social Assistance Richard Bavier Part IV. Non-Income Monetary Measures 12. Asset-Based Measurement of Poverty Andrea Brandolini, Silvia Magri, and Timothy M. Smeeding 13. Consumption-Based Measures in Developing Nations: Lessons from Brazil Peter Lanjouw 14. Alternatives to Income-Based Measures of Poverty Kenneth A. Couch Part V. Multi-Dimensional Measures 15. Developing and Learning from EU Measures of Social Inclusion Eric Marlier, Bea Cantillon, Brian Nolan, Karel Van den Bosch, and Tim Van Rie 16. Using Non-Monetary Deprivation Indicators to Analyze European Poverty and Social Exclusion Brian Nolan and Christopher T. Whelan 17. Poverty Redefined as Low Consumption and Low Wealth, Not Just Low Income: Psychological Consequences in Australia and Germany Bruce Headey, Peter Krause, and Gert G. Wagner 18. Anomalies in European Measures of Poverty and Social Exclusion Neil Gilbert Part VI. Conclusion 19. New Comparative Measures of Income, Material Deprivation, and Well-Being Timothy M. Smeeding
Douglas J. Besharov, JD, is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Kenneth A. Couch, PhD, is Professor of Economics at the University of Connecticut.
Reviews for Counting the Poor: New Thinking About European Poverty Measures and Lessons for the United States
Volumes like this highlight the important role that cross-national or comparative research can play in illuminating common problems around the globe. In this case, important European research on income and poverty issues help inform the U.S. debate and serve as models for future research and analysis in all countries. -Sandra O. Archibald, Dean and Professor, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington Calculating poverty rates is both technically challenging and politically explosive. With the poverty rate serving as a proxy for inequality and even social justice, counting the poor is a controversial task. But by drawing on how European countries and the United States tackle the challenge, and reviewing the range of methodologies, this excellent volume of papers provides invaluable lessons and insights that could help us at last to agree on how to think about the measurement of poverty. -Stuart M. Butler, Director, Center for Policy Innovation, The Heritage Foundation Perhaps surprisingly, considering the firm commitment of so many modern governments to social policy and poverty reduction, poverty measurement itself remains very much a work in progress-replete with many deep, nettlesome and unsettled technical issues. This welcome collection brings together some of the latest thinking on the topic by a number of the best researchers in the field on both sides of the Atlantic and, in fact, around the world. Counting the Poor will be required reading for anyone who wants to be up to date on this subject. -Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute Seen as a collection of interrelated themes, I find this book a worthy read for several reasons. First, within each theme, the chapters and the overall conclusion provide a nice overview of current academic and policy thinking in general and for Europe in particular. Second, the concluding chapter of the theme continues addi
