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Absolutely poor or relatively poor: does is matter for social policy design ? Chris de Neubourg Washington DC, November 2009. Does it matter for priority setting ? Does it matter for identifying the poor? Does it matter for identifying the long term poor ?
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Absolutely poor or relatively poor: does is matter for social policy design ? Chris de Neubourg Washington DC, November 2009
Does it matter for priority setting ? Does it matter for identifying the poor? Does it matter for identifying the long term poor ? Does it matter when setting levels and eligibility of means tested benefits ? Does it matter when assessing the incidence and adequacy for targeted and non-targeted benefits ?
Basic data • Poverty estimates for 15 EU countries and the USA for the period 1993 – 2000 • Using household surveys in the EU and the in the USA (ECHP and CNEF-PSID) • Using relative poverty concept (Laeken) and an absolute concept (Orshansky) for the 16 countries
Does is matter for setting policy priorities ? Table 1: Poverty incidence (in % of individuals, in 1996 and 2000) Laeken (relative) povertyOrshansky (absolute) poverty
Percentage of persistent “Laeken” poor who are also “Orshansky” poor , 2000
Does it matter when setting levels and eligibility of means tested benefits ? • Means tested benefits in Europe implicitly set absolute poverty line in the form of minimum income guarantees • Social assistance and social assistance plus • Are these implicit poverty lines de facto similar to the (US)“Orshansky” poor ?
Average social assistance level as percentage of “Orshansky” poverty line, 1993 - 2000
Average social assistance level as percentage of “Orshansky” poverty line, 1993 - 2000
Average social assistance level as percentage of “Orshansky” poverty line, 1993 - 2000
Average social assistance level as percentage of “Orshansky” poverty line, 1993 - 2000
Average minimum income guarantee as percentage of “Orshanky” poverty line
Minimum income guarantee as percentage of “Laeken” poverty line, 1993 - 2000
Average yearly minimum income guarantee 1993 – 2000 (in nominal euro)
Average yearly social assistance benefit and average yearly minimum income guarantee as percentage of “Laeken” (rel) and “Orshansky” (us) poverty lines, 2000.
Does it matter when assessing the incidence and adequacy for targeted and non-targeted benefits ?
Figure 6: Incidence of social assistance (below median income, 2000)
Absolutely poor or relatively poor: Does is matter ? • For policy priorities • For identification of the poor • For identification of the poor at risk of persistence poverty • For setting minimum income guarantee levels • For assessing incidence and adequacy of policy measures