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Measuring Poverty in Britain as a Multi-dimensional Concept, 1991 to 2003

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

MARK TOMLINSON ,
ROBERT WALKER  and
GLENN WILLIAMS
MARK TOMLINSON
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford email: mark.tomlinson@socres.ox.ac.uk
ROBERT WALKER
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford
GLENN WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University
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Abstract

While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multi-dimensionality and facilitate comparison of trends over time. Structural equation modelling appears to offer a solution to this conundrum and is used to exploit the British Household Panel Study to create a multi-dimensional measure of poverty. The analysis reveals that the decline in poverty in Britain between 1991 and 2003 was driven by falls in material deprivation, but more especially by reduced financial stress, particularly during the early 1990s. The limitations and potential of the new approach are critically discussed.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 597 - 620
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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