The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is based on the hardships the poor suffer rather than on how much they earn
LONDON (AlertNet) - A new measure of poverty that assesses a family's health, education and standard of living instead of looking at its income has revealed about 400 million more poor people worldwide than currently gauged.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), launched by Oxford University and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday, is based on the hardships the poor suffer rather than on how much they earn.
Â?The MPI is like a high-resolution lens which reveals a vivid spectrum of challenges facing the poorest households,Â? Oxford UniversityÂ?s Sabina Alkire, one of the three authors of the new index, said in a statement.
The new measure can help governments and development agencies tailor their policies according to which deprivations are most common in different population groups and make their efforts more effective, she added at the launch of the index in London.
Mexico has already adopted a similar multidimensional approach to assessing poverty, said another author of the new index, James Foster.
The MPIÂ?s researchers analysed data from 104 less developed countries where almost four fifths of the worldÂ?s population live.
About 1.7 billion people in those countries lived in Â?multidimensional povertyÂ? compared to the 1.3 billion in those same nations who live on $1.25 a day or less - the current widely accepted measure of extreme poverty.
DIVERGING FINDINGS
The new index is calculated using 10 indicators grouped into three equal categories. A household is considered multidimensionally poor if it suffers roughly a third or more of the worst amount of deprivation.
The 10 indicators include child mortality, adult or child malnutrition, absence of primary education or basic assets such as a radio or a bicycle, usage of dirty cooking fuel, a dirt, sand or dung floor and lack of access to electricity, drinking water and proper sanitation.
Â?In some countries these (latter three) resources are provided free or at a low cost; in others they are out of reach even for many working people with an income,Â? Oxford University and UNDP said in a statement.
As a result, some of the new findings diverge from the more traditional measures of poverty.
For example in Ethiopia, 90 percent of people are poor according to the MPI - many more than the 39 percent viewed as extremely poor based on their income.
In contrast, only 2 percent of UzbekistanÂ?s population is multi-dimensionally poor despite almost half the country living on less than $1.25 a day.
And there are more MPI-poor people in eight of IndiaÂ?s 28 states than in the 26 poorest African countries.
The MPI will be featured in the 2010 UNDP Human Development Report due to be published in late October.
(Writing by Olesya Dmitracova)
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