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What is the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index?

What is the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index?
Measuring poverty can be tricky. Income is a good place to start, but it does not tell the whole story. A recent graduate can live comfortably on the same amount on which a family of four would struggle.

Researchers have begun to search for more comprehensive measures of poverty.  One such measure is the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), created by Sabina Alkire at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. This index takes the answers to ten questions – two on education, two on health, and six on living standards – and combines them into a single index. Different questions are weighted differently. Whether your children are enrolled in primary education, for instance, counts three times more than whether you have electricity. Higher scores indicate higher levels of poverty. Households with composite scores over 33% are considered to be in poverty.

One problem with the MPI is that its weightings are arbitrary. Whether access to clean water or access to education matters more is up for debate. Yet despite its shortcomings, the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index has drawn attention to specifics of poverty that income does not address.

– David Wilson

Source: The Economist
Photo: Inquirer Business

Challenge: Live Below the Line for 5 days

Challenge: Live Below the Line for 5 daysCould you live on $1.50 a day?  This is the question Live Below the Line asks of participants.  Live Below the Line is an innovative awareness and fundraising campaign that is seeking to change the realities of extreme poverty.  1.4 billion people worldwide currently survive on less than $2 per day.  Causes like Live Below the Line are working hard to change that number by raising awareness, funds, and encouraging individuals to take the challenge.

Individuals are challenged to feed themselves for five days on $1.50 per day to stand in solidarity with those around the world who live in extreme poverty.   The number of $1.50 was chosen because it is the current equivalent to define those living in extreme poverty as set by the World Bank.  And while some argue $1.50 goes farther in developing countries, that number also includes those living in extreme poverty in developed nations such as the US.  For those in extreme poverty, $1.50 goes towards more than just-food. It funds housing, health, education, food, transport, and all other household expenses.

Live Below the Line partners with several organizations fighting global poverty on the ground and encourages participants who take the challenge to raise funds for one of those organizations during the 5-day experience.  It is an initiative out of the Global Poverty Project which educates and activates citizens to become engaged in the movement to end extreme poverty.

The 2013 challenge runs from April 29th to May 3rd.  Individuals are allowed a total of $7.50 to feed themselves for five days. Groups can get together to purchase food for the week, but they must ensure their daily meals still only equal $1.50.  To find out more, check out the website Live Below the Line.

– Amanda Kloeppel

Source: Live Below the Line