Why measuring poverty matters

In August, the University of Melbourne hosted two events by Oxford University’s Professor Sabina Alkire, a global expert in measuring and alleviating poverty. These were organised as part of her week-long visit to Australia, hosted by the School of Social and Political Science’s partner the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL).

Pictured (L-R): Dr Nicole Bieske (BSL Director, Social Policy and Research Centre), Jenny Davidson (CEO of the Council of Single Mothers and their Children), Prof Roger Wilkins (Deputy Director, University of Melbourne's Melbourne Institute), Prof Sabina Alkire (University of Oxford) and Dr Travers McLeod (BSL Executive Director)

While on campus, Sabina met with government officials, researchers and community advocates to discuss her work as the co-creator of a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), an index used by the United Nations and 165 countries to identify and track progress on poverty worldwide as either as an official income measure, a multidimensional measure, or both. It complements income-based poverty measures by considering a broader range of factors at the household level in education, health and standard of living.

She then engaged more than 500 attendees in a panel discussion, BSL Talks on Why measuring poverty matters, featuring the University of Melbourne’s Professor Roger Wilkins (Melbourne Institute); Jenny Davidson (Council for Single Mothers and their Children Chief Executive Officer) and BSL’s Dr Nicole Bieske (Social Policy and Research Centre Director).

Professor Alkire’s advice informs an ongoing joint initiative between BSL and the University of Melbourne, Defining and Measuring Poverty, which draws together experts and partners across a range of sectors to progress work toward an agreed Australian definition of poverty, with an associated poverty framework and measures. Establishing these benchmarks is an essential step in breaking the cycle of persistent poverty that Australia has been stuck in for decades.

The Defining and Measuring Poverty project is a collaboration between Melbourne Institute, the School of Social and Political Sciences and BSL. The proposed approach will be tested and validated through a process that includes a symposium later this year.

Questions: Dr Jennifer Frean, jfrean@unimelb.edu.au; Chris Black, chris.black@bsl.org.au