Concepts of poverty measurement. A comparison of four different approaches

The purpose of this paper is to examine four concepts of poverty measuremen t. The basic assumption is that due to different conceptionalizations of po verty, researchers not only identify different quantities df impoverished p eople (poverty rates), but also different groups of the population who face high risk of poverty. An analysis establishes where the characteristics of all four measurements converge and where they are distinct. The database i s a representative survey of households in a West-German town. The data col lection took place in the spring of 1997, and 2,316 households were intervi ewed. The analysis reveals that each measurement of poverty follows a uniqu e and distinct bias. Nevertheless, the analysis shows that, independent of the type of measurement, all the impoverished groups identified share equal patterns of coping. There is no one "best" concept of measurement.