Scientific Definitions of Poverty

The scientific definition of poverty is based upon universal measures that can be tested and falsified. Since the meaning of income differs across various contexts throughout the world, deprivation or consumption have proven to be more universal measures of poverty. The concept of deprivation arose from work by Peter Townsend and focused on the process or state of exclusion from socially normative activities when one desired to participate but was unable to do so. Deprivation is a much more universal concept, as consumption is generally only reflective of a specific period of time and still relies on the assumption of available income for most societies. In order to make the concepts of deprivation and consumption even more universally applicable, resources are often looked upon as ...