Subjective and objective poverty in Central European countries by age group
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15584/nsawg.2024.2.1Keywords:
subjective poverty, objective poverty, EU-SILC, Central European countriesAbstract
In assessing the social situation and the effects of income policy instruments, the risk-ofpoverty indicator known as objective poverty is commonly used. An alternative measure is subjective poverty, which identifies people declaring too low income in relation to their needs. The aim of our research was to compare the value of indicators of objective and subjective poverty in selected Central European countries, with particular emphasis on the age groups of the respondents. The assumption is verified that the share of the subjectively poor among the poor changes relatively depending on age. The analysis was based on the EU-SILC data covering the years 2008–2018. The results indicate that in all countries, the subjective poverty is greater than the objective poverty. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia, compared to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, are characterised by greater differences between various measures of poverty. There is also a downward trend in the rates of subjective poverty, which leads to a decrease in the differences between the two poverty measures. However, the separability of poor groups is also visible, with groups only subjectively or only objectively poor being distinguishable. The results also show a decreasing number of subjectively poor among younger respondents and a higher number of objectively poor among older respondents. The observed trend in the countries of Central Europe indicates a deepening problem of relative material poverty among the oldest people, while the sense of their own financial situation remains unchanged or even improved. The above results indicate that objective relative poverty and subjective poverty describe different phenomena.
References
Aidukaite, J., Hort, S.E.O. (2019). Editorial introduction: Baltic states after the crisis? The transformation of the welfare system and social problems. Journal of Baltic Studies, 50(1), 1–6. DOI: 10.1080/01629778.2019.1571754.
Budlender, D. (2003). The Debate about Household Headship. Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies, 29(2), 48–72. DOI: 10.1080/02533950308628675.
Buttler, F. (2013). What determines subjective poverty? An evaluation of the link between relative income poverty measures and subjective economic stress within the EU. DFG Research Unit Horizontal Europeanization. Oldenburg: Carl‐von‐Ossietzky‐Universität Oldenburg. Pobrane z: https://uol.de/fileadmin/user_upload/proj/horizontal/downloads/pre-prints/PP_HoEu_2013-01_buttler_subjective_poverty_0.pdf (2024.06.28).
Carletto, G., Zezza, A. (2006). Being poor, feeling poorer: Combining objective and subjective measures of welfare in Albania. Journal of Development Studies, 42(5), 739–760. DOI: 10.1080/00220380600741896.
Cleveland, W.S. (1979). Robust locally weighted regression and smoothing scatterplots. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 74, 829–836. DOI: 10.1080/ 01621459.1979.10481038.
Eurostat. (2018). Methodological Guidelines and Description of EU-SILC Target Variables. DocSILC065 (2018 operation [Version July 2019]).
Giełda, M. (2014). Prekarność a ubóstwo. W: J. Blicharz, L. Klat-Wertelecka, E. Rutkowska-Tomaszewska (red.), Ubóstwo w Polsce (s. 13–29). Wrocław: Wydział Prawa, Administracji i Ekonomii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
Goedhart, T., Halberstadr, V., Kapteyn, A., van Praag, B.M.S. (1977). The Poverty Line: Concept and Measurement. The Journal of Human Resources, 12(4), 503–520. DOI: 10.2307/145372.
Golinowska, S. (2018). O polskiej biedzie w latach 1990–2015. Definicje, miary i wyniki. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar.
Hagenaars, A.J.M., van Praag, B.M.S. (1985). A synthesis of poverty line definitions. The Review of Income and Wealth, 31(2), 139–154. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1985. tb00504.x.
Hansen, T., Slagsvold, B., Moum, T. (2008). Financial situation in old age: A satisfaction paradox or a result of accumulated wealth? Social Indicators Research, 89(2), 323–347. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-007-9234-z.
Hazelrigg, L.E., Hardy, M.A. (1997). Perceived income adequacy among older adults: Issues of conceptualization and measurement, with an analysis of data. Research on Aging, 19, 69–107. DOI: 10.1177/0164027597191004.
Hsieh, C. (2011). Money and happiness: does age make a difference? Ageing & Society, 31, 1289–1306. DOI: 10.1017/S0144686X10001431.
Koczan, Z. (2016). Being Poor, Feeling Poorer: Inequality, Poverty and Poverty Perceptions in the Western Balkans. IMF Working Paper, 16(31), 1–34.
Litwin, H., Sapir, E. (2009). Perceived Income Adequacy Among Older Adults in 12 countries: Finding from the Survey of Health, Ageing, Retirement in Europe. The Gerontologist, 49(3), 397–406. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnp036.
Marks, G.N. (2007). Income poverty, subjective poverty and financial stress. Australian Government Social Policy Research Paper, 29, 1–94. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1728587.
Morawski, L., Domitrz, A. (2017). Subjective Approach to Assessing Poverty in Poland – Implications for Social Policy. Statistics in Transition new series, 18(3), 501–520. DOI: 10.21307.
Mysíková, M., Želinský, T., Garner, T.I., Večerník, J. (2019). Subjective Perceptions of Poverty and Objective Economic Conditions: Czechia and Slovakia a Quarter Century After the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Social Indicators Research, 145, 523– 550. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-019-02102-2.
Panek, T. (2008). Ubóstwo i nierówności: dylematy pomiaru. Pobrane z: https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/POZ_Ubostwo_i_nierownosci-dylematy_pomiaru.pdf (2024.06.28).
Panek, T., Zwierzchowski, J. (2016). Ubóstwo w krajach Unii Europejskiej. Ekonomista, 2, 180–199.
Peng, C., Yip, P.S.F., Law, Y.W. (2020). What Factors Beyond Economic Poverty Lead People in High-income Societies to Feel Poor? Evidence from Hong Kong. Social Indicators Research, 152, 991–1027. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02419-3.
Pollak, R., Wales, T. (1979). Welfare Comparison and Equivalence Scale. American Economic Review, 69, 216–21.
Posel, D., Rogan, M. (2016). Measured as Poor versus Feeling Poor: Comparing Money-metric and Subjective Poverty Rates in South Africa. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 17(1), 55–73. DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2014.985198.
Rabušic, L. (1998). The Poverty of the Czech Elderly – Myth or Reality? Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review, 6(1), 5–24. DOI: 10.13060/00380288.199. 34.11.02.
Ravallion, M. (2012). Poor, or Just Feeling Poor? On Using Subjective Data in Measuring Poverty. World Bank Policy Research Working Papers, 5968, 1–39.
Shaw, B. (1988). Poverty: absolute or relative? Journal of Applied Philosophy, 5(1), 27– 36. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5930.1988.tb00226.x.
Stoller, M.A., Stoller, E.P. (2003). Perceived income adequacy among elderly retirees. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 22, 230–251. DOI: 10.1177/0733464803022002004.
de Vos, K., Garner, T.I. (1991). An evaluation of subjective poverty definitions: Comparing results from the U.S. and the Netherlands. Review of Income and Wealth, 37(3), 267–285. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1991.tb00371.x.
Vrooman, C.J. (2009). Rules of relief; institutions of social security, and their impact. The Hague: The Netherlands Institute of Social Research.
Wang, H., Zhao, Q., Bai, Y., Zhang, L., Yu, X. (2020). Poverty and Subjective Poverty in Rural China. Social Indicators Research, 150, 219–242. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020- 02303-0.
Želinský, T., Mysíková, M., Garner, T.I. (2021). Trends in Subjective Income Poverty Rates in the European Union. The European Journal of Development Research, 34, 2493–2516. DOI: 10.1057/s41287-021-00457-2.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 University of Rzeszow
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
