Editing Poverty threshold (section)

==Absolute poverty and the International Poverty Line ==
{{See also|Extreme poverty}}
The term "absolute poverty" is also sometimes used as a synonym for extreme poverty. Absolute poverty is the absence of enough resources to secure basic life necessities.
[[File:Poverty headcount ratio at 1.90 a day.png|alt=|thumb|upright=1.5|[[List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty|Poverty headcount ratio]] at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population). Based on [[World Bank]] data ranging from 1998 to 2018.<ref>{{cite web|title=Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population) {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY?view=map|access-date=23 July 2020|website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref>]]
To assist in measuring this, the World Bank has a daily per capita '''international poverty line''' (IPL), a global absolute minimum, of $2.15 a day as of September 2022.<ref name="WorldBank">{{cite web|url= http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/01/13/principles-and-practice-in-measuring-global-poverty|title=Principles and Practice in Measuring Global Poverty|date=13 January 2016|publisher=The World Bank|access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref>

The new IPL replaces the $1.25 per day figure, which used 2005 data.<ref>{{cite web|title = World Bank Forecasts Global Poverty to Fall Below 10% for First Time; Major Hurdles Remain in Goal to End Poverty by 2030|url = http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/10/04/world-bank-forecasts-global-poverty-to-fall-below-10-for-first-time-major-hurdles-remain-in-goal-to-end-poverty-by-2030|website = www.worldbank.org|access-date = 6 October 2015}}</ref> In 2008, the [[World Bank]] came out with a figure (revised largely due to inflation) of $1.25 a day at 2005 [[purchasing-power parity|purchasing power parity]] (PPP).<ref>Ravallion, Martin; Chen Shaohua & Sangraula, Prem ''Dollar a day'' The World Bank Economic Review, 23, 2, 2009, pp. 163–84</ref> The new figure of $1.90 is based on ICP PPP calculations and represents the international equivalent of what $1.90 could buy in the US in 2011.  Most scholars agree that it better reflects today's reality, particularly new price levels in developing countries.<ref>{{cite web|author = Hildegard Lingnau | title = Major breakthrough | date=19 February 2016 | url = http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/what-last-years-update-world-banks-poverty-line-means|publisher = D+C, development&cooperation|access-date = 27 April 2016}}</ref> The common IPL has in the past been roughly $1 a day.<ref>Sachs, Jeffrey D. ''The End of Poverty'' 2005, p. 20</ref>

These figures are artificially low according to Peter Edward of [[Newcastle University]]. He believes the real number as of 2015 was $7.40 per day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hickel |first1=Jason |title=Could you live on $1.90 a day? That's the international poverty line |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/01/global-poverty-is-worse-than-you-think-could-you-live-on-190-a-day |work=The Guardian |date=1 November 2015 }}</ref>

Using a single monetary poverty threshold is problematic when applied worldwide, due to the difficulty of comparing prices between countries.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Prices of the same goods vary dramatically from country to country; while this is typically corrected for by using PPP exchange rates, the basket of goods used to determine such rates is usually unrepresentative of the poor, most of whose expenditure is on basic foodstuffs rather than the relatively luxurious items (washing machines, air travel, healthcare) often included in PPP baskets. The economist [[Robert C. Allen]] has attempted to solve this by using standardized baskets of goods typical of those bought by the poor across countries and historical time, for example including a fixed calorific quantity of the cheapest local grain (such as corn, rice, or oats).<ref>
  Robert C. Allen, 2017.
  [https://ideas.repec.org/p/nad/wpaper/20170005.html"    Absolute Poverty: When Necessity Displaces Desire REVISED], 
  [https://ideas.repec.org/s/nad/wpaper.html"    Working Papers] 20170005, 
  New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, 
  revised Jun 2017.
</ref>

===Basic needs===
{{See also|Basic needs}}

The basic needs approach is one of the major approaches to the measurement of [[absolute poverty]] in developing countries. It attempts to define the absolute minimum resources necessary for long-term [[physical well-being]], usually in terms of [[Consumption (economics)|consumption goods]]. The poverty line is then defined as the amount of [[income]] required to satisfy those needs. The 'basic needs' approach was introduced by the International Labour Organization's World Employment Conference in 1976.<ref name=ILO_WEC1976>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/genericdocument/wcms_193047.pdf|title=The World Employment Programme at ILO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319063854/http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/genericdocument/wcms_193047.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2014}}</ref><ref name=ILO1976>{{cite journal|title=The World Employment Conference: The Enthronement of Basic Needs|last1=Jolly|first1=Richard| doi=10.1111/j.1467-7679.1976.tb00338.x|journal=Development Policy Review|volume=A9|number=2|pages=31–44|date=October 1976}}</ref> "Perhaps the high point of the WEP was the World Employment Conference of 1976, which proposed the satisfaction of basic human needs as the overriding objective of national and international development policy. The basic needs approach to development was endorsed by governments and workers' and employers' organizations from all over the world. It influenced the programs and policies of major multilateral and bilateral development agencies, and was the precursor to the human development approach."<ref name=ILO_WEC1976 /><ref name=ILO1976 />

A traditional list of immediate "basic needs" is food (including water), shelter, and clothing.<ref name="isbn0-930390-94-6">{{cite book |author=Denton, John A. |title=Society and the official world: a reintroduction to sociology |publisher=General Hall |location=Dix Hills, N.Y |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-930390-94-5 |page=17}}</ref> Many modern lists emphasize the minimum level of consumption of 'basic needs' of not just food, water, and shelter, but also sanitation, education, and health care. Different agencies use different lists.
According to a UN declaration that resulted from the [[Commission for Social Development|World Summit on Social Development]] in Copenhagen in 1995, absolute poverty is "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education, and information. It depends not only on income, but also on access to services."<ref name="Indicators of Poverty and Hunger">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_poverty.pdf |title=Indicators of Poverty and Hunger|access-date=14 February 2008 }}</ref>

David Gordon's paper, "Indicators of Poverty and Hunger", for the United Nations, further defines absolute poverty as the absence of any two of the following eight basic needs:<ref name="Indicators of Poverty and Hunger"/>
[[File:Homeless man sleeping under a bench.jpg|thumb|A homeless man seeks shelter under a public bench.]]
* Food: [[Body mass index]] must be above 16.
* Safe drinking water: Water must not come solely from rivers and ponds, and must be available nearby (fewer than 15 minutes' walk each way).
* Sanitation facilities: Toilets or [[latrine]]s must be accessible in or near the home.
* Health: Treatment must be received for serious illnesses and pregnancy.
* Shelter: Homes must have fewer than four people living in each room. Floors must not be made of soil, mud, or clay.
* Education: Everyone must attend school or otherwise learn to read.
* Information: Everyone must have access to newspapers, radios, televisions, computers, or telephones at home.
* Access to services: This item is undefined by Gordon, but normally is used to indicate the complete panoply of education, health, legal, social, and financial ([[credit (finance)|credit]]) services.

In 1978, Ghai investigated the literature that criticized the basic needs approach. Critics argued that the basic needs approach lacked scientific rigour; it was consumption-oriented and antigrowth. Some considered it to be "a recipe for perpetuating economic backwardness" and for giving the impression "that poverty elimination is all too easy".<ref name=basicneeds1978>{{cite journal|title=Basic Needs and its Critics|first1=Dharam|last1=Ghai|journal=Institute of Development Studies|volume=9|number=4|pages=16–18|date=June 1978|doi=10.1111/j.1759-5436.1978.mp9004004.x|url=http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/123456789/10859}}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Amartya Sen]] focused on 'capabilities' rather than consumption.

In the [[Economic development|development]] discourse, the basic needs model focuses on the measurement of what is believed to be an eradicable level of [[poverty]].