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Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty in the Metropolis: The Case of Shanghai

Received: 18 November 2020     Accepted: 26 February 2021     Published: 26 March 2021
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Abstract

From the perspective of multidimensional poverty theory, this paper takes the low-income population in District J of Shanghai as the sample for analysis, and explores six dimensions of poverty, i.e., income, health, education, employment, social participation, and whether there are children in the family, and divides the population covered by subsistence allowances into three levels of poverty: high, moderate and low. We find that: (1) 71% of individuals suffer from poverty at moderate levels or above; (2) There is a clear trend of “cluster disadvantage” at high poverty levels among families with children; (3) Women, especially women without registered resident status in Shanghai, are particularly vulnerable to poverty. These “silent minorities” should be the targets of priority intervention for social assistance; (4) From a geographical perspective, areas with high poverty intensity tend to be “concentrated and connected” in space. (5) In terms of service strategies, according to the poverty intensity which can be divided into three levels of “high, moderate and low,” this article proposes four types of assistance services: “general preventive, basic living needs ensured, supportive and development-oriented, and urgent protective,” in order to maximize the use of limited welfare resources for the best benefits of the most group in need.

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11
Page(s) 36-47
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Multidimensional Poverty, Alkire-Foster Method, Poverty Measurement, Targeted Social Welfare Service

References
[1] Alkire, S. (2002). Valuing Freedoms: Sen’s Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
[2] Alkire S., & Apablaza, M. (2016). Multidimensional Poverty in Europe 2006–2012: Illustrating a Methodology. OPHI Working Paper 74, University of Oxford.
[3] Alkire, S., & Foster, J. (2008). Counting and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement, OPHI Working Papers.
[4] Alkire S., & Foster, J. (2011). Understandings and misunderstandings of multidimensional poverty measurement. Journal of Economic Inequality, 9, 289–314.
[5] Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, (2018). https://www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B9XX0005C2018AN18C0100.pdf.
[6] Chen, K., Leu, C., & Wang, T. (2016). Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis in Taiwan. Journal of Population Studies (53), 1-59.
[7] Ciula, R., & Skinner, C. (2015). Income and Beyond: Taking the Measure of Child Deprivation in the United States. Child Indicators Research, 8.
[8] Glassman, B. (2017). A Multidimensional Poverty Measure using the American Community Survey. Working Paper for the Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting, 17-19.
[9] Nussbaum, M. (2003). Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice. Feminist Economics, 9 (2/3).
[10] Reeves R. V., Rodrigue E. & Kneebone E. (2016). Five Evils: Multidimensional Poverty and Race in America. Brookings: Metropolitan Policy Program.
[11] Sen, A. (2008). Development as Freedom. Beijing: China Renmin University Press.
[12] Sen, A. (2016). Inequality Reexamined. Beijing: China Renmin University Press.
[13] Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, (August 2019). Shanghai: Truth & Wisdom Press, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 22.
[14] Suppa N. (2015). Towards a Multidimensional Poverty Index for Germany. OPHI Working Paper 98.
[15] United Nations Development Programme and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, (2019). How to Build a National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Using the MPI to inform the SDGs. University of Oxford. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
[16] World Bank, (2018). Report of the World Bank on poverty statistics. https://undocs.org/ch/E/CN.3/2018/23.
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  • APA Style

    Zhang Fenxia. (2021). Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty in the Metropolis: The Case of Shanghai. Social Sciences, 10(2), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11

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    ACS Style

    Zhang Fenxia. Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty in the Metropolis: The Case of Shanghai. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10(2), 36-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11

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    AMA Style

    Zhang Fenxia. Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty in the Metropolis: The Case of Shanghai. Soc Sci. 2021;10(2):36-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11,
      author = {Zhang Fenxia},
      title = {Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty in the Metropolis: The Case of Shanghai},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {2},
      pages = {36-47},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20211002.11},
      abstract = {From the perspective of multidimensional poverty theory, this paper takes the low-income population in District J of Shanghai as the sample for analysis, and explores six dimensions of poverty, i.e., income, health, education, employment, social participation, and whether there are children in the family, and divides the population covered by subsistence allowances into three levels of poverty: high, moderate and low. We find that: (1) 71% of individuals suffer from poverty at moderate levels or above; (2) There is a clear trend of “cluster disadvantage” at high poverty levels among families with children; (3) Women, especially women without registered resident status in Shanghai, are particularly vulnerable to poverty. These “silent minorities” should be the targets of priority intervention for social assistance; (4) From a geographical perspective, areas with high poverty intensity tend to be “concentrated and connected” in space. (5) In terms of service strategies, according to the poverty intensity which can be divided into three levels of “high, moderate and low,” this article proposes four types of assistance services: “general preventive, basic living needs ensured, supportive and development-oriented, and urgent protective,” in order to maximize the use of limited welfare resources for the best benefits of the most group in need.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2326-988X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20211002.11
    AB  - From the perspective of multidimensional poverty theory, this paper takes the low-income population in District J of Shanghai as the sample for analysis, and explores six dimensions of poverty, i.e., income, health, education, employment, social participation, and whether there are children in the family, and divides the population covered by subsistence allowances into three levels of poverty: high, moderate and low. We find that: (1) 71% of individuals suffer from poverty at moderate levels or above; (2) There is a clear trend of “cluster disadvantage” at high poverty levels among families with children; (3) Women, especially women without registered resident status in Shanghai, are particularly vulnerable to poverty. These “silent minorities” should be the targets of priority intervention for social assistance; (4) From a geographical perspective, areas with high poverty intensity tend to be “concentrated and connected” in space. (5) In terms of service strategies, according to the poverty intensity which can be divided into three levels of “high, moderate and low,” this article proposes four types of assistance services: “general preventive, basic living needs ensured, supportive and development-oriented, and urgent protective,” in order to maximize the use of limited welfare resources for the best benefits of the most group in need.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 2
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Author Information
  • School of Social Development, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China

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