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