United Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical Division
Poverty measurement inEastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia
(EECCA)
Gady Saiovici
Seminar on Poverty Measurement - May 2015
Slide 2
Introduction
Previous presentation: questionnaire on poverty measurement sent to NSOs
11/13 countries from EECCA responded (ARM, AZE, BLR, GEO, KAZ, KGZ, MDA, MNG, RUS, UKR, UZB)
Slide 3
Stock-takingCountry Absolute Relative Multi-
dimensional Subjective
Armenia X XAzerbaijan XBelarus X X XGeorgia XKazakhstan X XKyrgyzstan XMoldova X X X XMongolia XRussian Fed. X XUkraine X X X XUzbekistan X
Total 10 5 3 4
Slide 4
Absolute Poverty
BLR
IncomeKAZRUSUKRARM
Consumption
AZEKGZ
MDAMNGUZB
Poverty Indicator
Slide 5
Absolute Poverty
MDA
YesRUSUKRUZBARM
No
AZEBLRKAZKGZ
MNGPossibility of measuring
persistent poverty
Slide 6
Absolute Poverty
ARM
YesKAZMDAUKRAZE
NoBLRKGZ
MNGRUSUZB
Use of equivalence scale
Slide 7
Absolute Poverty
In 9 out of 10 cases, demographic and geographic breakdowns are available
Peridiocity is usually annual (BLR, KAZ and UKR have more frequent data; MNG every two years)
Slide 8
Relative Poverty
BLRIncomeMDA
RUSExpenditureGEO
UKR
Poverty Indicator
Slide 9
Relative Poverty
MDAYes
UKRBLR
NoKAZKGZ
Possibility of measuring persistent poverty
Slide 10
Relative Poverty
All countries with available data use equivalence scales
Available breakdowns:• BLR: Geographic• GEO, MDA, UKR: Geographic and demographic• RUS: Demographic
Slide 11
Multidimensional poverty
Only calculated in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine• Armenia to introduce it using 2013 ILCS data
Survey data
• Belarus: Material deprivation rate• Ukraine: Deprivation poverty and Poverty by relative
monetary criteria (<75% median expenditure) + 4 deprivations
Administrative data
• Moldova: Small Area Deprivation Index Regional index using multiple deprivations in rural regions
Slide 12
Subjective poverty
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine measure it• ARM: subjective opinion (scale from 1=poor to 6=rich)• KAZ: subjective assessment of living standards (self-
attribution to a social group)• MDA: linear regression to establish a poverty line based
on minimum perceived needs of households• UKR: households referring to themselves as poor
according to their welfare