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Comprehensive Vulnerability Monitoring Exercise Multidimensional Poverty Index - May 2019

Countries
World
Sources
WFP
Publication date

Background: What is a Multidimensional Poverty Index?

Poverty is usually measured based on the money-metric concept which considers someone as poor if they do not have enough economic resources. This implies that the indicators used to measure poverty are only related to prices and expenditures on goods and services (UNICEF, 2014). However, since the 1990s, multiple methods have been developed to measure poverty. In this paper the focus will be on the Alkire-Foster (AF) Method, developed by Sabina Alkire and James Foster at Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The AF method is a flexible technique for measuring poverty or wellbeing, (OPHI, 2015). It can incorporate different dimensions and indicators to create measures specific to particular contexts.

Within the AF method, there are several steps required to construct a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) which vary based on the exact methodology used for the creation of the MPI:

  • Choice of purpose for the index (monitor, target, etc)

  • Choice of Unit of Analysis (individual, household etc)

  • Choice of Dimensions

  • Choice of Variables/Indicator(s) for dimensions

  • Choice of Poverty Lines / thresholds for each indicator/dimension

  • Choice of Weights for indicators within dimensions

  • Choice of Weights across dimensions

Within the Comprehensive Vulnerability Monitoring Exercise (CVME), WFP Turkey has developed an MPI following the AF method, which is used to assess the poverty levels of different groups of households. The CVME data was collected from March to August 2018. It includes responses from 1,301 households; the sampling methodology ensures the data is representative of all refugees living in Turkey. The methodology used to develop and validate the MPI is an iterative process, requiring multiple edits and re-running of various analytical steps. Below is a description of the steps taken to develop the MPI and a summary of the results. For clarity, the description is as linear as possible, but it should be noted that the process is less straightforward than described below.