THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF POPULATION POVERTY MEASUREMENT AS AN INDICATOR OF SOCIAL POLICY EFFICIENCY

Abstract

Exacerbation of socio-economic challenges necessitates the assessment of the effectiveness of the social policy, and one of the indicators of which is the level of poverty. This highlights the feasibility of comparing existing methodological approaches to measuring poverty, substantiating their objectivity and the feasibility of using it to assess the effectiveness of the national social policy. The results of the study revealed the diversity of existing approaches to the definition of ‘poverty’, which combines economic, social, and political aspects; the existing approaches and criteria for determining poverty are summarized. The paper specifies the methodological features of assessing the scale of poverty within an objective approach to 1) monetary criteria (absolute and relative poverty line, other monetary limits in accordance with the methodology of the World Bank and the EU), 2) non-monetary poverty line (based on identifying multiple derivations deprivation). The author’s position is that the assessment of the extent of poverty should also be carried out within the framework of a subjective approach, which involves self-identification and self-assessment of their own standard of living (according to the survey). The analytical study of trends and scales of poverty according to all methodological approaches and criteria for its definition is carried out. The novelty of this study is to identify trends and the overall level of effectiveness of national social policy in terms of all indicators of poverty. According to the results of comparative analysis of poverty indicators, the author's position on the objectivity of their reflection of the level of effectiveness of national policy is substantiated, the advantages, disadvantages, expediency and reservations on the application of existing methodological approaches to determining poverty to assess the effectiveness of the social policy.