Multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh

Traditionally, discussions on poverty have centred on income poverty, both in analytical debates and measurements. Income-based metrics have long been used to gauge deprivation, shaping the dominant perception of poverty as a purely financial issue. But today, it is well accepted that the issue of poverty is neither linear nor unidimensional. 

Deprivations do exist in non-income dimensions, like education, health, nutrition, safe drinking water, jobs, employment etc. Income deficits do not always reflect the deprivations in these areas. 

For example, a person can be wealthy, but illiterate. In that case, he or she may not be income-poor but is definitely deprived of knowledge. However, it is difficult to objectively or absolutely identify which deprivation is the most intense or the extreme one, as the issue is relative as well as subjective. Different people would prioritise different deprivations. 

It should also be remembered that human development depends not only on the physical well-being of people but also on their voice and autonomy, their right to participate in things that affect their lives and the balance between human beings and nature. 

Even after achieving physical well-being, a person may not have the freedom of expression. Or he or she, just because of his or her caste, may not have access to some places of worship, or may not participate in many social events. These also constitute human deprivations. Thus, in the ultimate analysis, human poverty is not unidimensional but rather multidimensional.

A few years ago, in order to measure multidimensional poverty, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford University Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) started collaborating to construct a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). This composite index includes ten indicators in three basic dimensions — health, education and the standard of living. Three observations are pertinent in this respect.  

First, the MPI is not a linear measure, as it includes multiple aspects of derivations.  

Second, even if the MPI is a broader measure of poverty than income poverty, it focuses only on non-income dimensions of deprivation. As a result, if one wants to assess the extent of income poverty in a country, one has to turn to income-poverty measures. 

A comparison of inter-temporal data between the 2014 and 2019 surveys indicates that over those five years, the incidence of multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh has dropped from 38% in 2014 to 24% in 2019. The absolute number of multidimensional poor has gone down from 60 million in 2014 to 41 million in 2019 – a decline of about three-fifths over five years 

Third, the MPI also concentrates on the physical well-being of people, and not on such issues as people's voice and autonomy, their freedom to participate or the issue of balance between men and nature.

The most recent research report, in fact, the seventh in the series, on global multidimensional poverty was published last week. Drawing on the data from different survey periods, the MPI was constructed for 122 countries. 

Bangladesh is also included in that list. Two surveys for multidimensional poverty were carried out — one in 2014 and the other one in 2019. The MPI of Bangladesh for 2022 was constructed through the extrapolation of the 2019 survey data.  

The MPI results indicate that globally, out of the 6.3 billion people in the world, 1.1 billion (27% of the global population) are in multidimensional poverty. 

Of these 1.1 billion people, 96 million people live in rural areas. They represent 84% of the people who suffer from multidimensional poverty. In other words, more than four out of five multidimensionally poor people are in rural areas. On the other hand, about 540 children in the world live in multidimensional poverty. Thus, global multidimensional poverty has a rural and a children's face.

For Bangladesh, the results of MPI indicate that the incidence of multidimensional poverty in the country is 25%, which implies that 1 in every 4 Bangladeshi lives in multidimensional poverty. In 2022, in absolute numbers, 41.2 million people of Bangladesh were in multidimensional poverty and 7% of its population was living under its severest form. 

About 18% of Bangladeshis are vulnerable to multidimensional poverty, implying that even though currently, they are not multidimensionally poor, they are prone to falling into the multidimensional poverty trap if there are crises of any kind. 

In Bangladesh, deprivations in standards of living contribute to 45% of its multidimensional poverty; deprivations in education can explain about 38% of it; and health deprivations account for the remaining 17%. It suggests that addressing the multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh would require prioritising deprivations in standards of living and education. 

If the multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh is compared with its income poverty, the comparison indicates that while the incidence of multidimensional poverty in the country is 25%, its income poverty incidence (measured by the national poverty line), is 19%. 

These two numbers point to the fact that more people in Bangladesh suffer from multidimensional impoverishment than income impoverishment. So, the income deficit alone cannot explain all the deprivations in Bangladesh. 

According to the World Bank's poverty measures, 5% people of Bangladesh live in severe income poverty, measured by a poverty line, fixed at a 2.15 PPP dollar per day. As 7% people of Bangladesh live in severe multidimensional poverty, it is clear that among the people who are severely poor in this country, deprivations in standards of living, education and health are more intense compared to income impoverishment. 

A comparison of inter-temporal data between the 2014 and 2019 surveys indicates that over those five years, the incidence of multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh has dropped from 38% in 2014 to 24% in 2019. The absolute number of multidimensional poor has gone down from 60 million in 2014 to 41 million in 2019 — a decline of about three-fifths over five years 

It is important to assess the multidimensional poverty situation of Bangladesh from the regional perspective of South Asia, where Bangladesh is located. Overall, the MPI of Bangladesh is quite similar to that of South Asia. Thus, while 25% of Bangladeshis live in multidimensional poverty, the relevant figure for South Asia is 21%. 

In South Asia, about 7.3% of the regional population is in multidimensional poverty, as opposed to 6.5% in Bangladesh. About 18% of people, both in Bangladesh and in South Asia, are vulnerable to multidimensional poverty. All these data show that the multidimensional poverty situation in Bangladesh is not worse than that of South Asia. 

Like Bangladesh, three-fifths of the multidimensional poverty in South Asia can be explained by the region's deprivations in standards of living and deprivations in education. But in terms of income poverty, Bangladesh is doing better than the South Asia region. The incidence of income poverty in South Asia is 23%, 5 percentage points higher than that in Bangladesh. Similarly, in terms of severe income poverty, 5% of the people of Bangladesh live in severe poverty, as compared to 11% in South Asia. 

Five policy issues are critical in addressing multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh. 

First, since more than 80% of multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh can be explained by deprivations in standards of living and education, those two areas should be focused in the policy matrix to address multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh. 

First, in the area of standards of living, such issues as safe drinking water, electricity, and shelter should be prioritised. Second, both the nature and the process of economic growth as well as macroeconomic strategies must be equity-based, pro-poor people and sensitive to the environment. 

Third, the country's social protection system must be geared towards multidimensional poverty. 

Fourth, the efforts for mobilising data should be consolidated. Reliable data collection can be ensured through innovative approaches and partnerships with other organisations. Special measures would be needed in areas, which are not easily accessible. Further attention should also be given to resource mobilisation and financing to strengthen the statistical system. 

Fifth, a coordinated effort is required to overcome multidimensional poverty. Humanitarian assistance and poverty-reducing efforts should be part of this coordinated approach. Resilience would be built through such efforts, which would open a path for sustainable development.  

Finally, the global community should work together so that global assistance can be given to countries like Bangladesh to achieve targeted goals to eliminate multidimensional poverty.  Through this measure, a development trajectory can be developed for those, who are victims of multidimensional poverty. 

It should be ensured that in the pathway towards eliminating multidimensional poverty, no one is left behind.