Non-monetary poverty and deprivation: A capability approach

Given the continuing interest in multi-dimensional approaches to poverty, the article considers ways in which Senian capability indicators can be used to assess and understand poverty and deprivation. More specifically, we develop novel capability data on 29 dimensions for adults from the US, UK and Italy to explore three core research questions. First, we show that when poverty is seen as capability deprivation, different individuals are identified as poor compared with approaches based on low income or subjective wellbeing. However, we also observe that what the poor report being able to do or otherwise is, nonetheless, it is relatively robust to the use of these three different approaches. Second, we employ latent class analysis to identify poverty and deprivation profiles for groups within society and suggest that such profiles help to identify groups who are deprived or socially excluded with respect to some but not all areas of life. Third, and finally, we examine the association between individual capability deprivation and local area deprivation in the UK. We find that individual capabilities are associated with local area deprivation in some cases but that the connections vary significantly depending on the dimension under consideration. We discuss the results and conclude by suggesting that capability indicators can provide insights into poverty which do not emerge from a more traditional approach focusing on income alone.

Gender and Human Development

The chapter presents an intersectional analysis of women’s human development outcomes through the lens of gender and social relations on the one hand, and the nature of public policies implemented on the other. Against the backdrop of women’s movements, this chapter explains women’s marginalization process, wherein critical gaps in the formation of basic capabilities across men and women in the society are identified. Differences in human development outcomes are not only due to differences in access and opportunity freedoms, but also in endowments and entitlements. Thus, real concerns about women’s human development achievements are regarding capability deprivation and inequalities in access to labour markets, social opportunities, political participation, and social protection. It is argued that purely entitlement transfers through state policy will not be able to resolve the issue. The numerous efforts to assess human development outcomes of both women and men in terms of quantitative and qualitative dimensions have been able to capture only some part of this multi-layered phenomenon.

Capability Deprivation, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Social Disadvantages—Empirical Evidence from Selected Countries

Based on longitudinal data from the Cross-National Equivalent File 1980–2016 (CNEF 1980–2016) the paper analyzes the extent of income inequality and capability deprivation and the driving forces of the intergenerational transmission of social and economic status of two birth cohorts in Germany, and the United States. In both the countries the empirical results show increasing inequality of the real equivalent household income, and younger cohorts experience a higher persistence of social and economic status. In the United States income inequality is more expressed than in Germany, which is in accordance with lower intergenerational income mobility. The contribution of individual and family background characteristics and capability deprivation indicators to intergenerational income mobility is more pronounced in the United States than in Germany. The significant impact of capability deprivation in childhood on the intergenerational transmission of economic chances emphasizes the importance of economic and social policy designated to guarantee the equality of opportunity.