What is multidimensional poverty in simple terms?

Being short not only of money but of education, health, housing and basic services at once.

Does it differ from income poverty?

Yes; the two overlap only partly.

Multidimensional Poverty

🤝 Social Welfare By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Multidimensional poverty treats poverty not as a shortfall in income or consumption alone but as simultaneous deprivation across areas such as education, health, housing, clean water and electricity. It is rooted in Amartya Sen's capability approach.

Contents

1. Beyond income
2. Measurement
3. Critique and use
4. FAQ
5. References

Beyond income

Sen (1976) introduced axiomatic poverty measurement and Sen (1999) framed poverty as capability deprivation, the capability approach, related to social exclusion.

Measurement

Tsui (2002) and Bourguignon and Chakravarty (2003) set out index axioms. Alkire and Foster (2011) proposed a dual-cutoff counting method underlying the global MPI, whose robustness Alkire and Santos (2014) examined.

Critique and use

Ravallion (2011) criticised arbitrary weights and favoured dashboards. Still, multidimensional measures reveal problems such as the poverty trap and energy poverty and are used in official statistics.

FAQ

What is multidimensional poverty in simple terms?: Being short not only of money but of education, health, housing and basic services at once.
Does it differ from income poverty?: Yes; the two overlap only partly.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Sen, A. (1976). Poverty: An ordinal approach to measurement. Econometrica, 44(2), 219–231. Axiomatic poverty measurement.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford University Press. Poverty as capability deprivation.
Tsui, K. (2002). Multidimensional poverty indices. Social Choice and Welfare, 19(1), 69–93. Axioms for indices.
Bourguignon, F., & Chakravarty, S. R. (2003). The measurement of multidimensional poverty. Journal of Economic Inequality, 1(1), 25–49. Dimension-specific thresholds.
Alkire, S., & Foster, J. (2011). Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement. Journal of Public Economics, 95(7–8), 476–487. The Alkire–Foster method.
Alkire, S., & Santos, M. E. (2014). Measuring acute poverty in the developing world: Robustness and scope of the Multidimensional Poverty Index. World Development, 59, 251–274. The global MPI.
Ravallion, M. (2011). On multidimensional indices of poverty. Journal of Economic Inequality, 9(2), 235–248. A critique of composite indices.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

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Capability ApproachWhat the capability approach is: Sen and Nussbaum's view that well-being and justice should be judged by what people can actually do and be, not income or utility. Concepts and critiques.🤝 Social Welfare Social exclusionSocial exclusion is a multidimensional process by which people are pushed out of key social activities, such as work, education, housing, relationship📄 Other Poverty TrapWhat a poverty trap is: self-reinforcing mechanisms that keep countries or households poor, the vicious circle, multiple equilibria, the big push and aid debate, Kraay–McKenzie's review, field experiments and the psychology of scarcity.📈 Economics Energy PovertyWhat energy poverty is: households unable to afford or access adequate heating, cooling, lighting and cooking energy. Boardman's 10% rule, causes, health effects, measurement and policy.🤝 Social Welfare

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.