The Experience of Poverty in the Post-Industrial Economy

The reduction of poverty is of societal importance.

After advances in the study of poverty in the late 20th century, however, most high-income countries have settled on an annual measure of household income as their primary measure of poverty.

In contrast, ExpPov argues that shifting socio-economic conditions in recent decades necessitate a new conceptual approach for understanding poverty and a new methodological framework for the collection of data related to the experience of poverty. Specifically, ExpPov confronts four central tenants of poverty research.

First, in contrast to national or regional investigations of poverty, ExpPov proposes that the geographic distribution of poverty across neighbourhoods within a municipality is an understudied, yet important source of stratification that directly affects well-being.

Second, this project expands measurement of the dimensions of poverty to incorporate physical and subjective well-being, confronting the income-specific approach that dominates the field.

Third, ExpPov measures the dynamics of poverty throughout the year to understand the sources and consequences of month-to-month volatility in poverty.

Fourth, in contrast to the practice of identifying poverty as an outcome of the 'family, market, and state', this project proposes that the dynamics, dimensions, and geographic distribution of poverty are direct sources of the more-fractured family structures, precarious jobs, and tenuous welfare states that define post-industrial economies.

From a data perspective, ExpPov introduces tools to produce low-cost panel surveys with the ability to target respondents in particular postal codes and working for specific employers, such as Uber or Deliveroo.

Methodologically, ExpPov introduces a framework to evaluate the contextual effects of poverty on the core institutions of social life.

Conceptually, ExpPov will reset the field's understanding of the social mechanisms through which poverty is experienced and reproduced.