Because data should inform action
The Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) is a new, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty. It has been developed to assess deprivation at the individual level and overcome the limitations of current approaches that measure poverty at the household level.
"What we choose to measure matters. So we need to make sure that we measure what matters. Data helps to make the nature and scale of issues visible. If issues or groups are not measured in a way that makes them visible, they are effectively hidden. If you don’t have data that confirms the extent of an issue, or who is most affected, it’s difficult to develop targeted, effective policies and programs, and track their impact".
Put simply, data, political advocacy and policy are inextricably linked. No data makes it harder to argue the problems faced and what needs to be done to address these issues and intrenched gender inequality has left "a legacy of significant gender data gaps". Gender is missing from poverty data. Historically, poverty data has been collected about households. Factors such as sex, age, ethnicity, caste, urban/ rural location, disability and more are not taken into consideration and this limits our understanding of poverty and the factors that shape it.
"As of 2018, we don’t know if women, overall, are poorer than men, or if poverty is feminizing, we need to measure the poverty of individuals, and assess the factors that poor people say define poverty".
The Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) measures 15 key areas of life that poor people say characterise poverty, and need to change if they are to escape poverty, it also takes into account specific geographic areas, supporting efforts to focus on the most important issues in that area.
15 Dimensions
In Fiji, the Bureau of Statistics used the IDM and found that some 91% of women reported exposure to fumes related to cooking and heating, compared to 65% of men. Women also reported that they suffer health problems linked to unclean cooking and heating fuel at twice the rate of men and these problems were more likely to be severe.
Detailed information such as this can help NGOs and social enterprises promoting safe cook stoves to know where to focus, to advocate for resourcing, and establish a baseline to assess how reducing exposure to dangerous fumes is changing lives and reducing health costs. It can help government health bodies to inform public health messages and support health staff to have conversations with women about the risks of smoke exposure. It can assist energy authorities to pinpoint priority areas for extending electricity provision, and social ministries to develop social protection measures that target the groups who are most deprived.
Measuring changes in poverty and empowerment are complex. Monetary approaches are often used to define and measure poverty and given money-metric definitions are the most tested and recognised, it makes sense but there are new alternative poverty measurement tools like IDM that also captures the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty.
To learn more head to the IDM website.
The Individual Deprivation Measure has been created by the Australian National University, International Women’s Development Agency and the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
