Project report
Do demographics matter for African child poverty ?
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study asks whether household size and composition change how child poverty is measured in Africa. It uses the World Bank's African poverty database and the $1.90 a day international poverty line (2011 purchasing power parity). It applies equivalence scales (FAO/WHO) with an adjustment suggested by Deaton, anchored on a pivot household whose per capita consumption is near the poverty line. Taking demographics into account lowers the estimated poverty rates for children and adults, and narrows the gap between them. Country rankings can change as a result.
Key points
- Accounting for demographics lowers estimated child poverty, adult poverty and the child-adult poverty gap.
- Poverty levels can differ substantially by country depending on demographic adjustments, which may change how countries rank.
- Child poverty is not sensitive to the child discount factor, unlike adult poverty.
- Taking demographics into account helps to identify poor children better.
- The choice of equivalence scale is controversial and can cause comparability problems between countries.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so specific countries, poverty rates and data years are not given. The results depend on the chosen equivalence scale and pivot household, and the study does not evaluate an intervention.
Abstract
The effect of demographics on poverty measurement based on per capita consumption is well known. The size and composition of the household can affect the well-being of everyone in the household, with respect to total consumption within that household. Failure to address this issue may often lead to an underestimation or overestimation of poverty, especially for children. Many studies have tried to address the issue, using the generic approach of equivalence scales. However, the choice of scale is controversial and may lead to comparability problems between countries because of the different demographic structures and choice of the pivot household for establishing the per capita poverty line. Based on the World Bank's African poverty database, this study estimates poverty rates for African children using the new international poverty line of $1.90 a day defined in terms of 2011 purchasing power parity. The equivalence scales approach (Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization) is used with the adjustment suggested by Deaton after the identification of the pivot household, which is defined as the household whose per capita consumption is around the international poverty line. This study shows that taking account of demographics results in downward adjustments of child poverty, adult poverty, and child-adult poverty gaps. Moreover, breakdowns by country show that poverty may vary significantly depending on demographics, which may cause some reranking when comparing poverty between African countries. Finally, sensitivity analyses reveal that child poverty is not sensitive to the child discount factor, unlike adult poverty, but, overall, taking account of demographics is helpful for better identifying poor children. (Africa)