Definitions of Poverty
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Definitions of Poverty: The deprivation index, Peter Townsend
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[This article is part of a longer article. Download the whole article in its original format.] In order to 'objectify' this measure of poverty, Townsend created a deprivation index. From an initial list of 60 items he selected 12 that are key indicators of deprivation. These are (1) a week's holiday away from home; (2) for adults -having a friend or relative to home to eat in the last 4 weeks; (3) for adults - going out or visiting a friend or relative in the last 4 weeks; (4) for children - having a friend to play in the last 4 weeks; (5) for children - not having a party on their last birthday; (6) not going out for entertainment in the last 2 weeks; (7) not having fresh meat at least 4 times a week; (8) not having a cooked meal one day in a fortnight; (9) not having a cooked breakfast most days of the week; (10) not having a house with a refrigerator; (11) where the household does not usually have a Sunday joint; (12) where the household lacks the sole use of four key amenities: flush w/c, sink/washbasin, fixed bath/shower, gas/electric cooker. Townsend claims that when deprivation is measured by these criteria there is a marked increase in deprivation at a level below 150% of the basic supplementary benefit. An obvious criticism of this is that the list does not take into account individual preferences. For example, this list would make every vegetarian poor, which is absurd. However, with qualifications, the list may still be valid as measure of a certain standard of normality, and the exclusion from normality because of poverty. Effectively, Townsend's list says that a bad social life is an indicator of poverty. Another criticism raised by Sen is that poverty must include some element of absolute poverty, especially when discussing poverty in the third world. According to Townsend, in 1968/69 22.9% (12.46 million) of the population were in relative poverty, compared to 9.2% according to the relative income standard.
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Contents of
Definitions of Poverty
1 Definitions of Poverty: Absolute Poverty
2 Definitions of Poverty: Seebolm Rowntree: Budget Standards and Poverty
3 Definitions of Poverty: Relative poverty
4 Definitions of Poverty: The deprivation index, Peter Townsend
5 Definitions of Poverty: The London Study, Peter Townsend
6 Definitions of Poverty: Poor Britain, Johanna Mack and Steward Lansley
7 Official Statistics on Poverty: British Statistics
8 Official Statistics on Poverty: International Comparisons
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