Ideas of Poverty and Wellbeing

Poverty has been an important part of the development agenda since the 1990s, but the way that we measure poverty has changed drastically over the years. Inequality is still not a mainstream measure, although measures such as the Gini coefficient are gaining prominence. Poverty is measured in terms of the poverty line, which is considered to be extreme poverty at under US $1.00 a day and poverty at US $2.00 a day. Who decides what is a basic good and what belongs in the basket of basic goods? Comparisons between countries’ market baskets are done in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. Poverty is not static; we move in and out of poverty. Bradshaw discusses income poverty, as well as Nussbaum’s wide conception of well-being, the human functioning capabilities approach. This chapter is part of Module 6: Sites of Gendered Poverty and Inequality.

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