Making ends meet
Revisiting the consensual income approach to measuring poverty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12937816 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Saunders (0000-0003-1368-1696, UNSW Sydney, corresponding author), Melissa Wong (0000-0002-3040-2954, UNSW Sydney) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 129-146 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Poverty and Social Justice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1759-8273 • E-ISSN: 1759-8281 |
| Publisher | Policy Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1332/17598273y2023d000000010 |
| OpenAlex | W4390690660 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 24 |
Conventional (income-based) poverty measures have been criticised for being narrowly focused and failing to provide evidence that those identified as poor have an unacceptable standard of living. The consensual approach to deprivation addresses both weaknesses by drawing on community perceptions of what items are essential for all and establishing that those who do not have them cannot afford them. In contrast, the consensual income approach maintains the role of income as a key determinant of poverty but uses community perceptions of how much is needed to make ends meet to set a poverty line. Although perceptions vary widely, it is possible to estimate the income level at which people with that income would say that their current income is just enough to make ends meet. This article re-examines this approach drawing on recent developments in poverty research and using new data for Australia. The consensual poverty lines produced are shown to have similarities with those used in existing poverty studies, but also to exhibit important differences. An overlap measure is developed that includes those in consensual poverty who also indicate that their current income is not enough for them to make ends meet. The poverty rates produced by this overlap measure is shown to align with those based on the 50 per cent of median-income OECD equivalised poverty line used in most Australian studies. It is argued that the consensual income approach has the potential to advance our understanding of poverty beyond that provided by conventional income-based measures
Basic needs · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Measuring poverty · Perception · Poverty · Public economics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Psychology · Social Issues and Policies
What money buys
Poverty or preference
Social Advantage and Disadvantage
Poverty and social exclusion in Britain
Poverty in the United Kingdom
Identifying the Poor
The Poverty Line
The Income Elasticity of the Poverty Line
The overlap between income poverty and material deprivation
Housing costs and poverty
Which Types of Family are at Risk of Food Poverty in the UK? A Relative Deprivation Approach
Stability and Change in Community Perceptions of Poverty
The Truly Poor
Attitudes to immigration and cultural diversity in Australia
Making Ends Meet in Australia and Sweden
Sour Grapes
Overlaps in Dimensions of Poverty
Deprivation
Family Size Equivalence Scales and Survey Evaluations of Income and Well-Being
The Adequacy of the Social Security System in Belgium, 1976-1985
Comparing the Monetary and Living Standards Approaches to Poverty Using the Australian Experience
Applying the Consensual Method of Estimating Poverty in a Low Income African Setting
The Impact of Adaptive Preferences on Subjective Indicators
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |