Poverty

Perceived need and measured well-being: How well do subjective rankings capture relative poverty?

Subjective well-being rankings are widely used to target social protection programs, yet their ability to capture relative welfare and wealth remains debated. This study compares three commonly used subjective ranking methods: self-, peer-, and elite-based poverty rankings, against consumption- and wealth-based measures using a large household survey in Ethiopia, where about 20 households per village were ranked from most to least “needy” by themselves, their peers, and community leaders. We assess concordance between subjective and conventional welfare rankings and explore sources of divergence. Subjective rankings align more with relative wealth than consumption and with total rather than per capita welfare, suggesting they overlook household composition. Among the three subjective ranking methods, elite-based rankings best capture conventional measures, although overall concordance between subjective and welfare-based rankings remains weak. Subjective rankings also better reflect relative deprivation among households exposed to covariate shocks. A composite index combining all three modestly improves concordance with standard metrics. We find suggestive evidence that information asymmetry, favoritism, and welfare dynamics partly explain discrepancies between subjective rankings and conventional welfare measures. These findings offer important insights to improve targeting in data-scarce settings.

Distance, prospects, and migration to towns and cities

Nutrition sensitive poverty and its correlates in Papua New Guinea: Incorporating healthy diet targets into poverty measurement

As the international development community increasingly prioritizes nutrition outcomes, incorporating healthy diets into poverty measurements has important implications for what it means to be poor. Particularly for low- and middle-income countries dependent on domestic agriculture and low-cost food imports, evaluating the access to healthy diets is crucial to meeting food security goals. This paper provides the most expansive poverty assessment using the cost of basic needs approach in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 15 years. In doing so, we compare a standard cost of basic needs poverty line where the food poverty line is defined by modest diets aligned with consumption patterns that meet a dietary energy (calorie) threshold; and a healthy diet food poverty line that meets both the dietary energy threshold and recommended nutrition targets. Results suggest that 43% of sample individuals live below the standard cost of basic needs poverty line. An additional 21% of sample individuals (64%) live below the healthy diet poverty line due to the relatively high cost of nutrient-dense foods in PNG. Multivariate regression analysis underscores the importance of household income diversification, whether via non-farm enterprise ownership or migrant remittances. Results reflect the unique challenges characterized by PNG’s remote landscape and lack of rural services, amplifying the need to improve rural-urban linkages that promote market access, educational attainment, and higher value employment opportunities.