ASSESSING POVERTY - SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE LITERATURE

This paper examines the quantitative poverty measurement literature. A fter describing the literature a number of issues in poverty research are discussed. It can be concluded that the framework for poverty asse ssments is not always fixed. Much has been written about the poverty l ine but the issue of updating it seems to have attracted less attentio n than deserved. Substantial advancements in poverty research have bee n gained by fuller reports on the extent of poverty through the use of poverty indices and because of increased availability of panel data.