A Tour of Poverty Measurement in Argentina

Abstract

The quantification of the phenomenon of poverty encompasses very varied conceptual and methodological aspects. It includes dimensions on employment, housing, health, education, adolescence, among others. It is necessary for the researcher to select a definition of poverty, and with this, the approach and methods of measurement are conditioned. Likewise, modifications in the norms of poverty over time—for example, changes in the group of minimum basic needs and in the critical level of satisfaction for each need—influence the level of incidence of poverty. The concept of absolute poverty maintains that there is an irreducible core of absolute deprivation whose lack of satisfaction reveals a condition of poverty in any context. In contrast, relative poverty postulates that human needs vary according to the given social context, depending ultimately on the general level of income. The approach to the problem of poverty in Argentina requires the recognition of its heterogeneity. By the mid-50s, Argentina had a relatively integrated labor market, a more homogeneous income distribution with respect to other countries in the region, and low levels of poverty and informality. At the end of the 70s, in the context of the slowdown and crisis in developed economies. Programs of neoliberal stabilization policies were put in place, replacing the substitution industrialization scheme. These adjustment measures and the structural transformations produced resulted in an increase in the population in conditions of deprivation that joined the structurally poor sectors. As a consequence of the deepening process of impoverishment and the increase in social inequalities, during the 80s in Argentina, the official methodologies to estimate poverty began to be outlined. Over the last few decades, the measurement methodology has been gradually adjusted in order to capture new social phenomena.