Persistent and Consistent Poverty in the 1994 and 1995 Waves of the European Community Household Panel Study

In this paper we attempt to contribute to the growing literature on the mismatch observed when comparing income and deprivation measures of poverty through an analysis of the first two waves of the European Community Household Panel Study. We do so by developing for each country measures of point in time income poverty, persistent income poverty and consistent poverty involving both low income and a corresponding level of deprivation. Our analysis shows that the mismatch between income and deprivation measures is greatest at the least generously defined poverty lines. A similar relationship was found for persistence. But, while consistency was related to the overall level of poverty in a country, this was not true for persistence. To develop further our understanding of different poverty measures the relationship of these variables to economic strain is considered. While deprivation has a substantially stronger impact than income a significant interaction between the two factors is found to exist. As a prelude to a systematic multivariate analysis of the determinants of different types of poverty, the final section illustrates the manner in which conclusions about the impact of social class on poverty are affected by the choice of poverty measure and the country under consideration. It proceeds to place these findings in the context of the recent debate on the democratisation of poverty.