Abstract
In this paper, we use mixed methods to develop a taxonomy of poverty and vulnerability to study the situation of children and their households in rural Ethiopia over time. The taxonomy is built using qualitative data from Young Lives, a long-term study of childhood poverty, with the specific purpose of analysing the context of children’s life trajectories using both quantitative and qualitative data. The approach aims to yield insights into changes over time as well as to reflect multiple dimensions and consider issues of current well-being and future ‘well-becoming’. It potentially allows for the identification of underlying mechanisms that influence and determine life trajectories. Until recently, quantitative and qualitative approaches towards the analysis of chronic and transient poverty have developed in isolation with little cross-disciplinary interaction. In this paper, we add to this body of research by using a mixed-method approach to develop a hybrid taxonomy of child poverty and well-being that can be used for a dynamic analysis. The paper also complements existing research and evidence on child poverty and well-being in the context of Ethiopia.
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Notes
The term ‘q-squared’ was coined by economist Ravi Kanbur http://www.kanbur.aem.cornell.edu at a workshop in 2001 on combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches in Poverty Analysis.
See also Sharp (2007) which focuses on the methodological implications of the study
An exercise on understandings of well-being was conducted in 2007 (Camfield and Tafere, 2009); however this asked participants to describe the characteristics of children of the same age and gender living well or badly. The ‘understandings of poverty’ exercise, which was conducted the following year, was broader in focus and so comparable to the data collected from adults.
Detailed information about the list of indicators and their thresholds included in the taxonomy can be found in Table 6 of the Appendix.
For example, no organisational membership, no iron roof and no irrigation of land are indicators of category ‘near poor’; if a child is deprived with respect to at least two out of these three indicators, he or she is considered to be ‘near poor’. If he or she is deprived with respect to one or none of these indicators, the child is considered ‘non poor’.
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Acknowledgements
Young Lives (www.younglives.org.uk) is a long-term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty. Young Lives is core-funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. Sub-studies are funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank (in Peru), the International Development Research Centre (in Ethiopia) and the Oak Foundation. The views expressed are those of the author(s). They are not necessarily those of, or endorsed by, Young Lives, the University of Oxford, DFID or other funders.
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The data used in this paper comes from Young Lives, a long term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty (www.younglives.org.uk). Young Lives is core-funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. Sub-studies are funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank (in Peru), the International Development Research Centre (in Ethiopia) and the Oak Foundation. The views expressed are those of the author(s). They are not necessarily those of, or endorsed by, Young Lives, the University of Oxford, DFID or other funders.
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Roelen, K., Camfield, L. A Mixed-Method Taxonomy of Child Poverty – the Case of Ethiopia. Applied Research Quality Life 8, 319–337 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-012-9195-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-012-9195-5