THE CONVENTIONAL method of measuring household poverty involves the use of an imaginary “basket of goods”, wherein the capability of a household to afford the value of the imaginary basket is the criterion whether or not a household is below or above the poverty threshold or the poverty line.
Although it is not exactly a replacement of the conventional method, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of the United Nations serves as an alternative method of measuring poverty, but this time based on the question whether or not a household has access to certain indicators.
I have proposed FACETS as an acronym for all the six indicators, meaning Floor, Assets, Cooking Fuel, Electricity, Toilets and Safe Water. The six indicators measure the living standards of people all over the world.
In the case of assets, the indicator that is used is whether or not the household has ownership of certain “goods”. What that means is that a household is considered deprived if it does not own more than one radio, TV, telephone, bike, motorbike or refrigerator and does not own a car or truck. In the manner that it is used, it is implied that if a household is deprived of certain criterion, it is the same as saying that it has no access to those “goods”.
As it is used, certain points are assigned each time there is no access or if there is a deprivation, and the total score will determine whether a household is poor or not, at least based on the multidimensional approach.
Additional points are assigned to the health dimension that includes child mortality and nutrition, and to the education dimension that includes years of schooling and school attendance.
As far as I know, the Philippine government has not yet adopted the MPI as an alternative means of measuring poverty in this country, meaning to say that up to now, it is still using the “basket of goods” approach.
As far as I also know, many countries make it a point to update the “contents” of the imaginary “basket of goods”, in order to adjust to the changing basic needs of their populations. For examples, many countries have already included such “basic” needs as Video Home System (VHS) players and mobile phones.
Here in the Philippines, some sectors are starting to argue that internet is already a basic need, because it is already a necessity and no longer a luxury. That is the same argument for cellular phone loads, and it is very difficult to argue against that.
It goes without saying therefore that the households within an intelligent settlement should have either access to or ownership the six indicators, otherwise they could hardly be considered intelligent, so to speak. (To be continued/PN)
