1. Subjective poverty (Chapter3)
Anna Bieńkuńska cso of poland

2. Chapter 3 on subjective poverty
Introduction: justification of the topic, contents of the chapter.
Concepts and methods of measurement.
Conceptual terms: subjective poverty, perception of poverty, subjective wellbeing vs. subjective poverty.
Methods of subjective poverty measurement.
Attitudes and opinions regarding poverty (perception of poverty by a society: preferred definition of poverty, perceived extent of poverty, perceived causes of poverty, etc.).
Objective poverty vs. subjective poverty (case of the monetary poverty).
Utility of subjective poverty measurement in a context of national assessments and international comparisons.
Conclusions and recommendations in context of international comparisons.

3. Concepts and methods of measurement
It is necessary to distinguish two situations: firstly, the situation when we want to determine if a given unit can be considered as subjectively poor and, secondly, the situation when we want to know surveyed units’ opinions on poverty understood as the social phenomenon, i.e. how they assess the poverty range in the country, what are the causes of poverty, etc. These are two different research problems.

4. Subjective poverty lines

5. Subjective poverty lines/thresholds
The basis for the determination of the subjective poverty lines is a self-assessment of the material status/financial situation of the household or a declaration of income necessary to satisfy minimal needs of the household.
Subjective poverty lines assessed with the use of statistical methods
Perception of the financial line of poverty

6. Perception of the financial line of poverty
Examples of questions:
How many pounds a week, after tax, do you think are necessary to keep a household such as the one you live in, out of poverty? (PSE survey, UK)
How do you think, below which income begins poverty? Please, consider monthly income per person in the familiy. (BS/22/22/97, CBOS Poland)

7. Subjective „statistical” poverty lines
Leyden poverty Line (LPL)
Subjective Poverty Line (SPL)
The Centre for Social Policy Poverty Line (CSP)

8. Leyden Poverty Line (LPL)
This method is based on the Welfare Function of Income (WFI) U(y), which is derived from a particular survey question, the Income Evaluation Question (IEQ):
'Please try to indicate what you consider to be an appropriate amount for your household for each of the following cases. Under my/our conditions I would call an after-tax household income per week/month/year of:
about very bad,
about bad,
about insufficient,
about sufficient,
about good,
about very good.
Please enter an answer on each line and underline the period you refer to.'
Source: Subjective Poverty Line Definitions (Flik, van Praag 1991)

9. Subjective Poverty Line (SPL)
This method states that families are poor if their incomes are not sufficient „to make ends meet” according to their opinion. This measure is based on on-level attitude question - the Minimum Income Question (MINQ):
'What do you consider as an absolute minimum net income for a household such as yours? In other words, we would like to know an income amount below which you won't be able to make both ends meet.
about per week / per month / per year
Please underline the period you refer to.'
Source: Subjective Poverty Line Definitions (Flik, van Praag 1991)

10. The Centre for Social Policy Poverty Line (CSP)
This line uses the MINQ, some standard information, and a special multi-level attitude question which we, for convenience, call the "Deleeck question" and which reads as follows:
'Can you make ends meet with the actual net income of your household:
- with great difficulty,
- with difficulty,
- with some difficulty,
- rather easily,
- easily,
- very easily?'
Source: Subjective Poverty Line Definitions (Flik, van Praag 1991)

11. Opinions on poverty

12. Subjective definitions of poverty
There are different ways of defining when people are poor in (OUR COUNTRY).
Which of the following statement would best correspond to your definition of being poor?
Country
Their resources are so limited that they cannot participate fully in the life of the society they live in
They depend on charity or public subsidies
They have less than (NATIONAL POVERTY THRESHOLD) per month to live on
They have a very low social status in our society, independently from their resource
They cannot afford the basic goods they need to live (food, shelter, clothes, etc.) (SPONTANEUS)
It is impossible to define poverty just by one statement (SPONTANEUS)
Other (SPONTANEUS)
Don't know %
Italy 15 12 10 40 8 2 1
Luxembourg 24 27 17 7 19 3
Poland 28 29 9 4
Romania 25 21 11 5
United Kingdom 18
European Union 27 26
Source: Special Eurobarometer 355 (2010).

13. Opinions about proportion of poor population
vs. EU-SILC at-risk of poverty rate
Country
In your opinion, in (OUR COUNTRY), what proportion of the total population is poor? (Eurobarometer)
At-risk-of relative poverty rate
in 2011 (60% median equivalised income) (EU-SILC)
1 person out of 3 or more (around 30% or more)
1 person out of 5 (around 20%)
1 person out of 10 (around 10%)
1 person out of 20 (around 5%)
Less than 5%
Don't know %
Italy 20 30 13 9 8
19,6
Luxembourg 7 19 27 17 10
13,6
Poland 38 29 16 5
17,7
Romania 61 24 3 1
18,0
United Kingdom 15 11
16,2
European Union 27 23 28 22 14 6
16,9
Source: Special Eurobarometer 355 (2010), EU-SILC 2011.

14. Self-assessment of household's situation – felt poverty*
Country
Poor
Neither poor nor rich
Rich
Refusal
Don't know %
Italy 15 45 31 7 2
Luxembourg 10 51 34 3
Poland 30 47 17 4
Romania 36 40 22 1
United Kingdom 18 52 16 5 9
European Union 27 23 49
* On a basis of the question: On this card, please select the letter that would best describe the situation of your household. The letters represent a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is very poor and 10 is very rich. Answers 1-4 have been classified as 'poor', 5-6 as 'neither poor nor rich', and 7-10 as 'rich'.
Source: Special Eurobarometer 355 (2010), EU-SILC 2011.

15. Assessment of the public policies
Country
Would you say public policies and programmes aim at improving the condition of poor people in (OUR COUNTRY) are generally…?
Making things better
Not having much impact
Making things worse
Don't know %
Italy 10 60 21 9
Luxembourg 37 47 2 14
Poland 19 11
Romania 57 13
United Kingdom 65 6 8
European Union 27 17 63 12
Source: Special Eurobarometer 355 (2010).

16. Examples of questions regarding subjective poverty included in the Social Cohesion Survey in Poland (in official statistics)
What proportion of the population in our country is poor? Please take into consideration people who e.g. cannot afford food, clothes, arrears (in %).
Do you know any people among your acquaintances, family, neighbors, who could be considered as poor?
Do you think, that a material support for poor people is a task:
Mainly for the state
Rather for the state than for their family
For both the state and their family
Rather for their family than for the state
Mainly for their family

17. Objective poverty vs. subjective poverty

18. Poverty rate by each measure of poverty and numer of measures
on which respondents are poor
Poverty rate by each meaasure of poverty: Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain Survey
Poverty measure
% of poor
Normative poverty (lacking 4+ socially perceived necessities)
17,2
Felt Poverty (subjective measure)
19,6
Comparative Poverty (equivalent income before housing costs less than 60% median)
18,8
Number of measures on which respondents are poor
Poor at least one
32,9
Poor at least two
16,1
Poor on three
5,7
Source: Methodologies to measure poverty: More than one is best! (Bradshaw, 2001)

19. Median equivalised income in households making ends meet easily and with difficulties in 2014
Country
Households making ends meet*
with great difficulty, difficulty or some difficulty
fairly easily, easily or very easily
thous. of PPS
Italy
13,6
22,0
Luxembourg
19,3
32,0
Poland
8,3
13,3
Romania
3,8
6,7
United Kingdom
13,4
21,4
*On a basis of the question: A household may have different sources of income and more than one household member may contribute to it. Thinking of your household's total income, is your household able to make ends meet, namely, to pay for its usual necessary expenses? (Possible responses: with great difficulty; with difficulty; with some difficulty; fairly easily; easily; very easily).
Source: Eurostat database, EU-SILC

20. Values of thresholds for different poverty types in Poland in 2014
Threshold of:
Threshold for 1-person household
Threshold for 4-persons household
Adopted equivalence scale
PLN
extreme poverty (subsistence minimum)
540
1458
"Oxford" scale (1;0,7;0,5)
"privation" (social minimum)
1062
2867
relative poverty (60% median equivalent income)
1120
2352
Modified OECD scale (1;0,5;0,3)
subjective poverty (LPL)
1378
2040
LPL method scale
Source: CSO of Poland

21. Subjective poverty thresholds (LPL) for households of different sizes in Poland in 2014
Number of persons in
a household
Value of LPL subjective poverty line
Threshold for 1-person household = 100%
Threshold for 4-person household = 100%
PLN % 1
1378
100 68 2
1677
122 82 3
1880
136 92 4
2040
148 5
2173
158
107 6
2288
166
112 7
2390
173
117 8
2482
180 9
2567
186
126 10
2644
192
130
Source: HBS, CSO of Poland

22. Non-monetary poverty
How to treat the indicators of deprivation?

23. How to treat the indicators of deprivation?
How should we treat the indicators of deprivation assessed on the basis of households’ opinions? Are they actually the measures of subjective poverty? NO!
Examples from EU-SILC survey:
Can your entire household afford to go for a week's annual holiday, away from home, including stays in a second dwelling or with friends/relatives?
Can your household afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day?
Can your household afford an unexpected required expense (amount to be filled) and pay through its own resources?

24. Conclusions (to be discussed)
Subjective poverty indicators are supposed to supply the objective measures of this phenomena.
Subjective indicators should not be a main basis for the social policy actions, however they can support the decisions of policy makers. Subjective measures adequatly present to what extent applying of objective measures is coherent with the social perception of poverty.

25. Recommendations (to be discussed)
For national use, it seems advisable to conduct wide surveys and analyses on subjective poverty (e.g. subjective poverty line, perception of poverty, perceived extent of poverty, role of the state in reducing poverty).
In a context of international comparisons at the level of UNECE countries, it would be recommended to include few indicators based on the minimal set of questions included in households’ surveys on income and living conditions.

26. Recommended question Why?
'Can you make ends meet with the actual net income of your household:
- with great difficulty,
- with difficulty,
- with some difficulty,
- rather easily,
- easily,
- very easily?'
Why?
This question has already been used in the EU-SILC survey as a core variable.
It allows to compare subjective assessment of income situation with the actual level of income.
It gives an opportunity to assess the „statistical” subjective poverty line (originally - CSP line or modified one) and, in cosequence, subjective poverty rate and poverty gap.
It will enable comparisons of subjective and objective poverty rates (overlap, population characteristics).

27. Another proposals to be discussed
Perception of poverty: which question should be applied in this context?
Subjective definitions of poverty, e.g.: There are different ways of defining when people are poor in (OUR COUNTRY). Which of the following statement would best correspond to your definition of being poor? (Eurobarometer)
Perceived extent of poverty, e.g.: In your opininion, what percentage – roughly – do the poor constitute in (OUR COUNTRY)? That is te people who, among other things, can not afford to purchase food, clothing and pay their rent. Please specify %. (Polish Social Cohesion Survey)

28. Households making ends meet with difficulties
and at-risk-of-relative poverty rate in 2014
Country
Households making ends meet*
At-risk-of relative poverty rate in 2014 (60% median equivalised income)
with great difficulties
with difficulties
with some difficulties %
Italy
17,9
22,3
37,3
19,4
Luxembourg
3,9
8,0
15,9
16,4
Poland
10,7
19,0
39,0
17,0
Romania
22,0
26,7
37,0
25,4
United Kingdom
9,1
11,1
26,1
16,8
European Union 28
11,5
16,3
28,7
17,2
*On a basis of the question: A household may have different sources of income and more than one household member may contribute to it. Thinking of your household's total income, is your household able to make ends meet, namely, to pay for its usual necessary expenses? (Possible responses: with great difficulty; with difficulty; with some difficulty; fairly easily; easily; very easily).
Source: Eurostat database, EU-SILC.