The Importance of Having an Indicator for Vulnerability to Poverty: an Empirical Analysis of Brazilian Metropolitan Areas (2002–2011)

Abstract

"Many studies have cast light on the dynamic character of the poverty phenomenon—poverty cycles propagate themselves, and individuals as well as households both enter and exit a situation of deprivation. However, most antipoverty policies are based on indicators constructed with cross-sectional data, which simply reflect the situation of individuals at a particular moment. If an antipoverty policy aims to ensure minimum income and welfare for a family, static measures may underestimate the poverty rate and exclude potential beneficiaries that have frequent deprivation cycles with intervals of non-poverty in between. Thus, efforts to monitor and evaluate programmes geared towards overcoming poverty should be based on dynamic poverty measures and panel data that take into account not only the current poverty situation but also the risk of future poverty. Therefore, studies about vulnerability are important.”(…)