Increasing Number of Children and Poverty: A Multidimensional Approach

Abstract

This study aims at looking at the effects of increasing number of children on poverty. Unlike monetary approaches based on income and consumption expenditures, the multidimensional poverty approach, which includes dimensions such as education, health and environmental factors, can conduct a more accurate analysis based on the deprivation of individuals and households. In other words, determining how a differentiation in household size based on the number of children is reflected in the multidimensional poverty of the household is among the main goals of the study. For this purpose, in light of the data of the head of households based on the 2006 and 2017 data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), a multidimensional poverty measurement is carried out for Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) Level-1 regions of Turkey and for the entire country and it is examined whether the increase in the number of children might cause an increase in the household poverty. It can be specified among the findings of the study that the multidimensional poverty is increased with the increased number of children in the households as we move from west to east of Turkey.

Keywords

• Number of children
• Household size
• Mutlidimensional poverty

References

1. Alkire, S. & Santos, M, E., (2010). Acute multidimensional poverty: A new ındex for developing countries, United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports Research Paper 2010/11.
2. Alkire, S. & Foster, J., (2011a). Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement, Journal of Public Economics, 95(7), 476-487.
3. Alkire, S. & Foster, J., (2011b). Understandings and misunderstandings of multidimensional poverty measurement, The Journal of Economic Inequality, 9(2), 289-314.
4. Alkire, S., Apablaza, M., & Jung, E., (2014). Multidimensional poverty measurement for EU-SILC countries, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper Series, 36b, 1-49.
5. Alkire, S. & Jahan, S., (2018). The new global MPI 2018: Aligning with the sustainable development goals, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper Series, 121, 1-21.
6. Alkire, S., (2018). The research agenda on multidimensional poverty measurement: Important and as-yet unanswered questions, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper Series, 119, 1-24.
7. Anand, S., (1977). Aspects of poverty in Malaysia. Review of Income and Wealth, 23(1), 1-16.
8. Anyanwu, J. C., (2005). Rural poverty in Nigeria: Profile, determinants and exit paths. African Development Review, 17(3), 435-460.

9. Anyanwu, J. C., (2014). Marital status, household size and poverty in Nigeria: Evidence from the 2009/2010 survey data. African Development Review, 26(1), 118-137.
10. Batana, Y. M., (2013). Multidimensional measurement of poverty among women ın Sub-Saharan Africa, Social Indicators Research, 111(2), 337-362.
11. Bourguignon, F. & Chakravarty, S.R., (2003). The Measurement of multidimensional poverty, Journal of Economic Inequality, 1(1), 25–49.
12. Foster, J., Greer, J., & Thorbecke, E., (1984). A class of decomposable poverty measures, Econometrica, 52(3), 761-766. European Commission, (2010). A Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. https://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/ pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20 -%20Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf, (20.06.2019).
13. Geda, A., De Jong, N., Mwabu, G. & Kimenyi, M., (2001). Determinants of poverty in Kenya: A household level analysis. ISS Working Paper Series/General Series, 347, 1-20.
14. Haughton, J. & Khandker, S.R., (2009). Handbook on Poverty and Inequality, The World Bank, Washington.
15. Khan, R. E. A., Rehman, H. & Abrar ul Haq, M., (2015). Determinants of rural household poverty: the role of household socioeconomic empowerment. American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci, 15(1), 93-98.
16. Lanjouw, P. & Ravallion, M., (1995). Poverty and household size. The Economic Journal, 105(433), 1415-1434.
17. Lugo, A.M. & Maasoumi, E., (2009). Multidimensional Poverty Measures from an Information Theory Perspective, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper Series, 10, Oxford.
18. Meyer, D. F. & Nishimwe-Niyimbanira, R., (2016). The impact of household size on poverty: An analysis of various low-income townships in the Northern Free State region, South Africa. African population studies, 30(2).
19. Sen, A., (1976). Poverty: An ordinal approach to measurement, Econometrica, 44(2), 219-231.
20. Sen, A., (1983). Poor, Relatively Speaking, Oxford Economic Papers, 35(2), 153-169.
21. Sen, A., (1997). On Ethics in Economics, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
22. Sen, A., (1999). Development As Freedom, NY: Knopf Publishers, New York.
23. Sen, A., (2004). Capabilities, Lists, and Public Reason: Continuning the Conversation, Feminst Economics, 10(3), 77-80.
24. Seth, S. & McGillivay, M., (2018). Composite indices, alternative weights and comparison robustness, Social Choice and Welfare, 51, 657-679.
25. Song, S. & Imai, K., (2018). Does the hunger safety net programme reduce multidimensional poverty? Evidence from Kenya, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper Series, 124, 1-26.
26. TurkStat, (2017). Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu Gelir ve Yaşam Koşulları Araştırması, Ankara.
27. TurkStat, (2020). Temel İstatistikler, Gelir, Yaşam, Tüketim ve Yoksulluk, http://www.tuik.gov.tr/UstMenu.do?metod=temelist, (04.08.2020).
28. World Bank, (2020). World Bank Data, Poverty Data, https:// data.worldbank.org/topic/poverty, (04.08.2020).
29. Zanbak, M., (2014). Yetenekler Yaklaşımı Perspektifi İle Yoksulluğun Ölçülmesi: Yoksulluğun Kayıp Boyutları Üzerine Ampirik Bir Uygulama, Akdeniz Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Antalya. Zanbak, M. & Çağatay, S., (2013). Yetenek yaklaşımı temelinde yoksulluğun ölçülmesi: Mersin ve Erzurum illerinde yoksulluğun kayıp boyutları. İktisat İşletme ve Finans, 28(327), 67-104.