Mojca Novak
Mojca Novak
POVERTY: FACTS AND FEELINGS
Abstract
The welfare state and related social policies brought significant nov-
elties to the recognition and consideration of poverty . On the one
hand, poverty was no longer considered the private matter of the poor
but rather became subject to the generosity of the higher social class-
es. At the same time, research into poverty developed substantially .
Such research began approximately a century ago with the investiga-
tion of poverty in absolute terms . From the nineteen-sixties onward,
different concepts and methods were applied to poverty investigation .
In particular, basic human needs in both the narrow and broad sense
of the term as well as the subjective perception of poverty became the
determining factors of these investigations .
The notions of subsistence poverty and relative poverty expressed
in terms of access to food, clothing and housing or in terms of money
necessary to purchase such goods also frequently underlie poverty
investigation. Poverty research in Slovenia cannot "compete" with
poverty investigation standards elsewhere as regards either concep-
tualisation or applied measures .
In this article, the author considers the objective and subjective
aspects of poverty in Slovenia . She compares the social-structural
characteristics of those who are objectively poor (using the average
household income as a provisional poverty-line) and those who have
a perception of themselves as poor reporting a lack of money to make
ends meet.
To perceive of one's risk of impoverishment subjectively, social-
structural factors have a statistically weak impact which proves that
the threat of poverty goes beyond social limits . By contrast, education
and employment status significantly influence household income
while gender and age have an insignificant impact on it . The author
concludes that feelings about one's actual living conditions brings a
balance to merely measuring them by objective facts .
Keywords: well-being, poverty, living conditions.
INTRODUCTION
During the last two centuries social reformers have aggressively promoted
the concept of equal access to welfare . State welfare strategies concerned,
in particular, those who were unable to provide for themselves for any num-
ber of reasons . Before the explosion of welfare state, charity and moral
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obligations towards those living on the margins of society was the most
prevalent strategy for the eradication of poverty . Such a method might
have been successful were it not for the fact that it perpetually revealed the
distance between those who provided help and charity and those who
received it. The rise of industrialism and associated social problems empha-
sised the growing lacunae between the wealth of the upper classes and the
impoverishment of the working class and revealed it to be a definitive factor
retarding the progress of society . Given the perspective provided by the last
century, what is revealed is that it was not altruism toward those who suf-
fered from the ill effects of industrialism which launched the first anti-
poverty schemes but rather the fear of the potential power of the working
class. The Bismarckian model of social insurance (Baldwin 1993) and Bev-
eridge's programme of universal implementation of the social right to a
decent living standard became the cornerstones of social policy (Able-Smith
1992; Baldwin 1992) . Moreover, the British welfare model unintentionally
reflected the Scandinavian model which had been in operation since the
beginning of the century . In certain countries, employment and its benefits
are still the major guarantees of social security but since the advent of
social policy programmes which had the effect of expelling employees from
the workplace, employment became no longer the sole responsibility of the
worker. On the contrary, employment has since that time become the per-
manent concern of the state. Business cycles oscillate between prosperity
and recession ; hence, since the late nineteenth century, the perception of
social solidarity seeks to find a balance between the individual's basic
needs and the resources in society which fulfil them .
The economic capacities of both sides of this equation, the state's and the
individual's, vary both through time and from country to country . Further,
both sides often differ in their perception of basic needs and in their expec-
tations of each other . The promoters of anti-poverty programmes repeti-
tiously intone basic needs and the necessary resources for fulfilling them
regardless of changes in time and space . In this respect, such programmes
reflect the distribution of society's economic capacities on the one hand and
the political will to redistribute social wealth more equally on the other
hand. In any case, in its implementation of welfare strategies, the state
applies its own propositions and rules .
When researchers become involved in the topic of poverty, the situation
inevitably become more complicated . Researchers apply different concepts
of those in need, make different assumptions about the life-style prefer-
ences of the poor and subsequently develop a different set of tools to mea-
sure the target group's way of life as well as their life-style choices .
WAYS OF CONSIDERING POVERTY
Almost one hundred years have passed since the first survey of the poor
was conducted . The first Rowntree analysis of the poor in York (Rowntree
1946) was the milestone and essentially serves as the starting point for the
`industry of poverty investigation' (Beveridge in Abel-Smith 1992) in Eng-
land and elsewhere . As Townsend observes, during the twentieth century
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three concepts of poverty evolved as the basis for international and compar-
ative work in the area . These concepts relate principally to ideas of subsis-
tence, basic needs and relative deprivation (Townsend 1993, 30) .
The most well-known and widely disseminated subsistence approach to
poverty research came to fruition in the works of Rowntree in the UK and
Orchansky in the USA . Followers of their ideas and methods applied them
either strictly or more loosely elsewhere in the world . The basic point of
departure of the subsistence approach to poverty is the specific calculation
of the cost of meeting the minimum dietary needs in any society . It is very
transparent and is easily applied in the comparison of various countries
yet, in terms of measuring the risk and incidence of poverty, certain ana-
lysts find it to be a highly problematic approach . The major criticism con-
cerns the interpretation of human needs as being predominantly physical
needs - food, shelter and clothing - as opposed to more general social needs
(Townsend 1993, 31) . In contrast, these analysts argue that people are
dependent on collectively produced and (re)distributed utilities and facilities
on the one hand and their own way and style of consumption on the other
hand .
The second `branch' of poverty research was launched in the nineteen-
sixties and advocated the notion of basic needs while seeking to comple-
ment growth indicators with social development indicators . This branch
flowered in the nineteen-seventies with the filling in the `social blank' left by
nutritionists and the subsistence approach . The emphasis was shifted to
the minimum facilities required by local communities as a whole rather
than the needs of the individual or of the family unit for physical survival .
By supplementing it with a more local aspect of welfare, the subsistence
approach was substantially broadened yet the national growth of material
wealth has persisted to be the basic factor for poverty eradication .
Townsend believed that the broadening of the conceptualisation of poverty
from the individual alone to the local community could be completed by the
theory of relative deprivation ; this shift would contribute substantially to
the more comprehensive and rigorous social meaning of poverty . In other
words, poverty may be understood as solely applying to those who are the
victims of unequal distribution of resources or the range of explanation can
be substantially widened to include those whose resources limit their abili-
ty to fulfil elaborated social demands and customs . The latter group may be
materially and socially deprived in a variety of ways, but what is relevant is
the relation between actual deprivation and its subjective perception .
Unfortunately and perhaps because of its complexity, the third `branch' of
poverty research conceptualisation is less `popular' and less widely dissemi-
nated among analysts than the first two . Hence, it has rarely been applied
in international comparative studies .
The global review of poverty research has yielded plentiful results (Øyen
et al 1996) . However, the Slovenian tradition, particularly in sociology, is
not competitive in this area as sociologists concentrate primarily on
analysing poverty in the limited framework of well-being . However, the
wealth of data produced by the recent Quality-of-Life surveys takes us a
step closer to more in-depth poverty investigation . The available informa-
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tion broadens access to the meaning of life on the margins of a decent living
standard. Moreover, the data has made it possible to perform a comparative
analysis of two categories of respondents : the first group imperiled by
poverty objectively and subjectively (that is by their perception) and the sec-
ond group being already beyond these threats . Further, there are separate
observations of those who are considered objectively poor (utilising the
monetary poverty line) and those who subjectively perceive themselves as
endangered by impoverishment (utilising the non-monetary poverty line) .
Therefore, it is legitimate to expect that both categories will view their living
conditions in a different way. What is of primary relevance is neither the
poverty rate in Slovenia nor the risk of impoverishment, but the level of liv-
ing of the categories observed through the access to living resources .
LIVING AT THE BRINK OF POVERTY: FACTS COUNTER
FEELINGS
POVERTY RESEARCH TRADITION IN SLOVENIA
Compared to sociology, Slovenian economics have thus far competed
more successfully on the level of international poverty research standards .
Poverty line calculation was started in the late sixties, during the period
when the investigation of poverty 'mushroomed' in the international con-
text. In recent years, economists have primarily focused their research on
poverty rates and the composition of households at risk for poverty . Similar
to the situation in the USA (Miller 1996), Slovenian research has had a
decisive impact on official poverty line calculation which employs a concep-
tual mix of the subsistence and basic human needs approaches . Šumi
(1986) took an interest in this approach and has applied it to specific
Slovenian conditions . Stanovnik (1991), by way of contrast, followed the
nutritionist ideas of Orchansky. As was the case in other Central European
countries, poverty investigation was started in the late nineteen-sixties but
failed to attract the interest of researchers or politicians until the early
nineteen-eighties . During that period, politicians rejected even the use of
the term 'poverty' because of the commonly-held belief that socialism had
managed to eradicate this 'social evil' . In addition, welfare state strategies
that had been formulated in connection with the Bismarckian model of
social insurance and were implemented for wage earners and salary work-
ers (and, in the early nineteen-sixties, farmers joined the insured as well)
served to uphold the belief in the 'successful eradication' of poverty . The
early nineteen-eighties (a decade later than in Western countries) ushered
in a state welfare crisis as the gap between social expenditures and avail-
able resources started to widen . Groups which had hitherto been protected
by social policies were no longer certain of maintaining their social security .
In contrast to common perception, poverty rates did not increase substan-
tially as measured in terms of poverty composition . Young urban families
with dependent off-spring started to replace the 'old' poverty categories,
that is the elder and rural population (Novak 1996) .
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As elsewhere in the world, the deepening crisis provided the impetus to
increase the intensity and frequency of poverty research. Strictly speaking,
sociology 'entered' the poverty `association' a few decades later than econo-
mists. Sociologists have not, since their entry into the field, managed to
close the resulting gap .
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Because economists have strictly limited their analytical approach to
poverty investigation to the use of monetary measures - that is, to the cal-
culation of the poverty line, of poverty rates and poverty composition - there
is no rational for sociologists to imitate this analytical pattern . Rather, the
examination of living conditions in a broader perspective added on to the
monetary aspect of well-being would provide a new value which would
enhance the current knowledge of poverty . Further, taking into account the
subjective perception of poverty as well would also contribute an additional
stock of knowledge about the subject in Slovenia .
The conceptual basis of the Slovenian Quality-of-Life survey rests upon
Allardt's trinity of basic needs : `to have' concerns material and impersonal
needs, `to love' concerns social needs and `to be' stresses personal develop-
ment needs (Allardt 1993) . If one utilises Allardt's conceptual framework
then the level of satisfaction of basic needs remains a significant point .
Standard of living, taking into consideration the gap between wants and
available resources, thus becomes the broader frame of analysis . If one
adheres to the concept of (unequal) access to living resources, then actual
living conditions come closer to the conceptualisation of poverty . The latter
approach is similar to Ringen's suggestion that poverty research should pri-
marily focus on the way people can afford to live rather than on their aspi-
rations as to how they want to live (Ringen 1985, 1988) . Molly Orchansky's
notion of 'poverty being in the eye of beholder' (Orchansky 1969) strongly
supports the above analytical view . Moreover, the subjective perception of
the (in)ability to make ends meet does not essentially undermine this
framework .
MEASURING TOOLS
(Limited) Access to living resources reveals its two-sided nature . If the
analyst wishes to approach its essence, the difference between actual living
conditions and subjective perception of poverty risk should attract the ana-
lyst's interest . The use of both monetary and non-monetary measures will
also broaden the analytical perspective .
Three sets of indicators help in the consideration of the subject under
investigation : namely, indicators measuring social structure factors, income
and overall well-being . In this analytical framework, social structure factors
include gender, age, acquired education, work status and residence . In the-
ory and in accordance with Weber's definition of social class, these factors
should result in the respondent's income (see figure 1) . It differs from dis-
posable income (equal to household income after tax reduction) and should
in turn result in a household's well-being as measured by indicators of
well-being, that is material and housing conditions (See figure 2) .
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The current analysis will focus on testing three hypotheses where each of
them corresponds to a separate part of this double-sided subject .
The first hypothesis assumes that social structure factors - and particu-
larly gender, age, work status and education - influence the household
income non-monotonously .
Figure 1 :
SOCIAL STRUCTURE IMPACTS ON INCOME
Social Structure Factors
•
	
Gender
∎ Age
• Education	 Income
∎ Work Status
∎ Residence
Numerous references support the thesis that female gender, old age, eth-
nic minority status and unemployment significantly influence the risk of
impoverishment as well as the potential transformation of these groups into
social minorities (Townsend 1979) . Moreover, all too frequently these factors
also operate as multipliers which augment the vulnerability of particular
groups such as female-headed one-parent households, immigrants, retirees
and widows, young families with a high number of dependant offspring,
families living on welfare, etc (Hauser, Fischer 1990 ; Ringen 1986 ; Smeedi ng 1991).
The second hypothesis assumes that income effects access to living
resources which in turn translates into well-being .
Figure 2 :
WELL-BEING
Material Conditions
Income Housing Conditions
Financial Incapacity
Finally, the third hypothesis assumes that subjective perception of living
conditions differs significantly from actual living conditions .
Townsend's (1993) concept of relative deprivation could serve as a useful
starting point for testing the third hypothesis . In addition, a number of
ideas also emerged from the subjective approach to poverty as applied in
'Leyden's poverty line' which, along with related calculations (Goedhart et al
1977), enable a more thorough and rigorous exploration of poverty
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Mojca Novak	
(Deeleck, Van den Bosch 1992) . In particular, this second approach high-
lights the relation between monetary and non-monetary measures when
respondents directly compare their disposable income with their aspira-
tions. The current analysis will consider living conditions which fall into
both categories : those who are objectively poor as reflected by the monetary
measure and those who report the perception of threats of impoverishment .
However, the results will not be considered in the framework of relative
deprivation but rather in the framework of the difference between objective
poverty and its subjective perception .
The indicators used are intended to meet the conceptual requirements of
the current analysis through the combination of information on social
,structure factors, income and well-being and the perception of the risk of
impoverishment . Though, (perception of) poverty lies in eyes of beholder
(Orchansky) what is relevant for the purpose of the current analysis is the
way people actually do live not how they want to live . The latter point is also
significant but should be analyzed in other research . In addition, while we
recognize that factors of social class frequently operate within a vicious cir-
cle of impoverished living conditions, we will not be including this aspect in
the current analysis .
The indicators used in the current analysis are as follows :
1 . Social structure indicators including indicators of gender, age (from
eighteen years up), acquired education, work status (employed, self-
employed, farmers, retired, housewives, students, etc .) and residence (rural
residence, centre of a municipality or centre of a region, residence in the two
largest cities in Slovenia, Ljubljana or Maribor, etc .) . The indicator of house-
hold composition includes the above list as well as factors such as whether
one lives alone, with a sibling, in a one-parent family, in a nuclear family or
in an extended family .
2. Well-being indicators include a different sets of factors which measure :
- material living conditions as reflected by :
possession of items such as telephone, car, household appliances (stove,
washing machine, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave oven, etc .) and
electronic equipment (such as TV, video, stereo and personal computer) ;
- financial capacity reflected by the ability to collect a certain amount of
money in a week (equal to five-times average income in June 1994 - USD
720) ;
- sub-standard housing conditions (no bathroom, no toilet, humidity,
density - less than 15 square meters per person) ;
- ability to have a vacation outside of hometown .
3. Poverty indicators include monetary and non-monetary measures .
Monetary measure is fifty per cent of the median household income per
head . Asymmetrical distribution of income proposes the use of the median
as a poverty line calculation method rather than an average income as a
measure of poverty. Since the income indicator omits such information as
tax reductions and household composition, the author has decided to aban-
don the term `disposable household income' and solely utilise the term
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'income' . Non-monetary measures include the respondents' impressions of
failure to make ends meet for basic needs such as food, shelter, and cloth-
ing . Regardless of how arbitrary this measure is, two sets of poverty indica-
tors will help to make a distinction between the two categories of the poor :
the first as measured by household income and the second by the subjec-
tive perception of poverty risk . Monetary measures will provide the 'objec-
tive' aspect of poverty and non-monetary measure will provide the 'subjec-
tive' aspect . Yet the arbitrary nature of these measures still persists and
therefore the differentiation between `poor' and `not poor' respondents
remains a provisional one .
Cross-tabulations, the contingency coefficient and Cramer's V-test are the
statistical methods employed .
INADEQUATE WELL-BEING: NON-MONETARY AND MONETARY
ASPECTS
Utilising household expenditures and the modified OECD scale (fifty per
cent of median income), statistical data on poverty indicates that, in 1993,
6 .9 per cent of Slovenian households lived below the poverty line (Ruzic
1994, 307) . Further, additional sources of information support the conclu-
sion that factors such as retirement, living alone, old age, and lower educa-
tion substantially increase the risk of poverty (Žnidaršič 1995) . As shown in
the current analysis, some of these findings contradict the results of the
Quality-of-Life survey on poverty .
The Quality-of-Life Survey was conducted from May to June 1994 . In this
period, guaranteed income was USD 144 .00 (Rode 1995) . To understand
these figures, the survey data reveals that average household income per
head was USD 252 .00 during the same time frame . The data clearly shows
that income varies across different educational echelons and proves the ini-
tial assumption : that the higher the educational level the higher the average
household income per head. By contrast, gender and age seem to be statis-
tically insignificant as regards income distribution . Those who report the
perception of the threat of impoverishment tend to make less money than
those who do not report such fears but income distribution reveals that the
inability to make ends meet has little to do with the amount of available
money. Regardless of responses in the category of 'not making ends meet'
or 'making ends meet', among the total pool of respondents those with the
highest level of education report having twice as much income per head
than those with the lowest level of education . Respondents of all education-
al backgrounds report the (substantial) lack of money for satisfying their
needs and wants (Novak 1995, 327) .
Comparison between non-monetary and monetary poverty line aspects
(Table 1) indirectly confirms the claim that income is a significant well-
being factor but far from being, by itself, a sufficient indicator of well-being .
The data shows that every fifth respondent reports having income below
the monetary poverty line while twice as many respondents (42 .2 per cent)
report an inability to make ends meet for food, shelter, and clothing. As
would be expected, those who have income below the monetary poverty line
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Mojca Novak
also show a much lower ability to make ends meet than those above it : 32.9
per cent of the `monetary poor' cannot afford to purchase needed food (com-
pared to 10.8 per cent of the `monetary non-poor') ; 21 .8 per cent of the
`monetary poor' cannot afford adequate shelter (compared to 9 .0 per cent of
the `monetary non-poor'), and ; 65.3 per cent of the `monetary poor' can
hardly purchase any clothing (compared to 32 .6 per cent of the `monetary
non-poor') . These figures also reflect the priorities of expenditures . Regard-
less of the category of respondent, shelter comes first and clothing comes
last (see Table 1 in the supplement) .
Table 1 :
INABILITY TO MAKE ENDS MEET AS REGARDS THE MONETARY POVERTY LINE
Household Income per Head
Inability to Make
	
(50 per cents of median)
Ends Meet	Below	Above	All	
For None N 106 843 949
Item	%	32 .8	63.9	57.8
For One N 95 307 402
Item	%	29.4	23.3	24.5	
For Two N 76 122 198
Items	%	23.7	9.2	12.1
For Three N 46 46 92
Items	%	14.2	3.5	5.6
All N 322 1318 1640
19 .6	80.4	100.0	
Significance Chi Sq . .00000
Cramer's V-test . 29681
Various studies have claimed that factors such as female gender, old age,
unemployment and ethnic minority status substantially affect the risk of
poverty (Townsend 1979) . Further, certain sources of information support
the conclusion that female headed one-parent families and children repre-
sent particularly vulnerable groups (Hauser, Fischer 1990 ; Rainwater
1992). Townsend also believes that old age increases the threat of impover-
ishment (Townsend 1979) but recent trends tend to counter this thesis
(Smeeding 1991) . However, in Slovenia certain statistical studies have tend-
ed to support Townsend's set of poverty factors (Žnidaršič 1995) . Neverthe-
less, the Quality-of-Life Survey data revealed a statistically insignificant
relationship between the incidence of poverty and social structure factors
such as gender and age . (see Table 2)
Where is this difference between major factors affecting the incidence of
poverty supposed to come from? It could be the consequence of different
dimensions that were included in the analysis . Namely, in statistical analy-
sis poverty is observed through expenditure while in the Quality of Life Sur-
vey the household income per capita represents the major monetary mea-
sure. Hypothetically, the main difference in results derives from this fact .
However, including expenditure instead of income as a monetary measure
92 DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23
POVERTY : FACTS AND FEELINGS
also has its significant rationale . In Central Eastern European societies the
income from the second economy that is frequently untaxed is a substantial
factor of well-being . Certain approximations in Slovenia state that it could
represent 20 per cent of a household budget. Regarding this fact, measur-
ing household expenditure gives a better view of well-being than measuring
one (taxed) income alone . As shown, this method fails in certain aspect as
well . Frequently, it has been proved that particularly pensioners save
money in greater extent than other categories . This also means they expend
relatively less of their income . Hence, different significance of old age as a
factor of poverty incidence as stressed in statistical analysis (Žnidaršič
1995) and the Quality-of-Life survey could derive from employing either
expenditure or income as a monetary measure .
Education and household composition were seen as the most significant
factors effecting the respondents' living conditions . Low education and liv-
ing in one-parent households affected the risk of impoverishment to a
greater extent than gender and old age. However, it is clear that social
structure factors like age and particularly education do influence the sub-
jective perception of this risk as regards the potential inability to make ends
meet though this relationship is statistically weak (see Tables 2, 3, 4 in the
supplement) . Retirement by itself tends to increase the risk of impoverish-
ment only insignificantly (Novak et al 1995) . In conclusion, the first hypoth-
esis which assumed that social structure factors influence household
income passed the test although each factor showed a different degree of
influence .
What essentially matters? Is it the actual living conditions as measured
by analysts or the subjective perception of living conditions as reported by
respondents? Does poverty lie in the eyes of the observer or in the eyes of
the one being observed? Both perspectives have attracted various
researchers whose theories could be included in this analysis as well . Social
structure indicators and well-being indicators will also help us to answer
these questions (Table 2) .
Evidently, the subjective perception of the risk of impoverishment is
important although its relationship with objective poverty is statistically
weak. Further, the condition of having no telephone, for example, and
financial incapacity only reflect a strong relationship between observed
aspects . Moreover, financial incapacity, in particular, leads to the conclu-
sion that the risk of impoverishment could be experienced in the near
future . The weak relationship between the subjective perception of poverty
and actual living conditions points to certain other factors which may effect
this relationship more significantly than do selected social structure fac-
tors. Feelings about poverty appear to go beyond actual living conditions
and, moreover, beyond social structure factors . (The figures in Tables 2, 3,
4 in the supplement support this thesis as well .) Presumably, testing Due-
senberry's 'emulation hypothesis' (Douthitt, Macdonald, Mullis 1992) would
lead to even more valuable findings which could explain this relationship .
This hypothesis seeks to prove the fact that the imitation of consumption
patterns of others has a greater impact on one's needs and wants than
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one's actual financial capacity . Sociologists might refine this by adding
that the higher the level of education, the weaker the impact of the refer-
ence group .
Table 2 :
SOCIAL STRUCTURE FACTORS AND WELL-BEING AS REGARDS THE NON-MONETARY AND
MONETARY POVERTY LINE PRIVATE
Below Non-monetary
	
Below Monetary
Indicators Poverty Line Poverty Line
Cramer's Cramer's
V-test %	V-test	
Social Structure Factors :
Female Gender 45 .6 * .11 20 .1 .01
Old Age (Above 65 Years) 48.5 * .10 22 .4 .06
No Education 51 .2 * .13 38 .4 * .29
Unemployed 58 .4 * .09 39.9 * .25
One-Parent Family 47 .6 * .07 22.6 * .15
Rural Residence 40 .5 .03 25 .9 * .19
Well-being :
No Telephone 50.2 * .21 37 .2 * .27
No Car 43 .6 * .16 28 .3 * .16
No Electronic Equipment 55 .2 * .11 60 .9 * .30
Sub-standard Household Appliances 48 .9 * .09 48 .8 * . .23
Sub-standard Housing Conditions 51 .3 * .15 31 .6 * .25
Financial Incapacity 51 .7 * .27 28.8 * .24
Inability to have a Vacation Outside
of Home-town 47 .6 * .16 29 .3 * .24
Agenda :
*Significance Chi Sq . < .05
Truly, the (perception of) poverty lies in the eyes of beholder . In this case,
it lies in the eyes of the respondent . What might the observer conclude after
employing objective measures of poverty incidence? In strong contrast to
subjective perspectives, the figures in Table 2 confirm a strong statistical
relationship between actual living conditions measured by both social
structure and well-being indicators and the monetary poverty line . Interest-
ingly enough, these findings prove our initial hypothesis to be correct .
Social structure factors do non-monotonously influence the household
income per head. In direct contrast to gender and age, educational level and
employment status effect the incidence of poverty . Regardless of a few sta-
tistically weak relationships, income provision has a significant impact on
well-being . In this case, Ringen's support of the way-of-life direction of
poverty analysis proves to be an appropriate selection . The subjective
aspect of poverty risk is relevant as well, but as indicated above, actual liv-
ing conditions defined by the monetary poverty line perspective reveals a
stronger relationship regarding the first hypothesis and proves the second
hypothesis to be correct .
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POVERTY : FACTS AND FEELINGS
IMPOVERISHMENT BEYOND ACTUAL LIVING
CONDITIONS
As indicated above, the analysis treats several major points but its prima-
ry task was to prove that both aspects of poverty (subjective and objective)
are relevant . Social structure factors have a statistically weak impact on the
subjective perception of one's risk of impoverishment . Indeed, the threat of
poverty exceeds social limits. The fear of poverty may be experienced by
those who are socially 'well-equipped' while those who have insufficient
qualifications may not be subject to this fear at all . Feelings about poverty
thus appear to transcend limitations posed by social structure factors . In
contrast, the monetary measure of poverty discerns the actual social nature
of decreased living conditions . Educational level and employment status
were shown to significantly influence income while gender and age had an
insignificant impact on it . Available income significantly effects one's well-
being (Figure 3) .
Figure 3 :
NON-MONETARY AND MONETARY POVERTY
Indicators
	
Non-monetary Poverty Monetary Poverty
Social structure - - Education
Employment Status
Well-being - Financial - Household Facilities
Incapacity - Housing Conditions
Financial Incapacity
Vacation
To predict actual living conditions, the researcher should first observe the
objective aspect and employ monetary poverty measure in order to build a
corresponding analytical framework . In addition to this aspect, the respon-
dent's own estimation of her or his own living conditions will broaden the
analysis beyond its initial framework . It is a clear indication that feelings
about one's well-being brings a balance to the objective measuring of facts .
Aspirations about one's living conditions are relevant as well . They could be
considered either as wants or needs ; the researcher could also interpret
them as a threat of the inability to make ends meet. Finally, the researcher
should abandon the oscillation between the subjective and objective aspects
of well-being by transcending the dilemma of which perspective is more reli-
able. The subjective aspect concerns the individual's estimation of living
conditions and also reflects the individual's ability to manipulate and con-
trol living resources . This talent is far from being distributed statistically
normally among the population . Moreover, it is unevenly distributed among
objectively measured 'haves' and 'have nots' .
Regardless of the analytical approach, poverty research should attempt to
avoid the arbitrary use of 'choice' and 'opportunity' . Some may choose to go
on vacation or to eat meat. Others may not have such an opportunity ; they
must choose only among those items which they can afford . The selection
DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23 95
Mojca Novak
between the subjective and the objective aspect is not the opportunity to
choose between way-of-life analysis and life-style analysis . In other words,
it is hard to believe that living in poverty could be the free exercise of choice
for a bizarre life-style .
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96
	
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POVERTY: FACTS AND FEELINGS
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SUPPLEMENT
Table 1 :
LIVING IN NON-MONETARY AND MONETARY POVERTY
Inability of Making
	
Monetary Poverty Line Significance Contingency
Ends Meet for Below Above Chi Sq . Coefficient
Food 32.9 10.8 .00000 .23819
Shelter 21.8 9.0 .00000 .15594
Clothing 65 .3 32 .6 .00000 .25719
Table 2 :
GENDER AND NON-MONETARY POVERTY
Inability of Making Ends Meet for a Number of Items
Gender	None	One	Two	Three	All	
Male N 555 172 95 36 858
64 .7	20.0	11 .1	4.2	47.6	
Female N 516 256 109 66 946
	54.5	27.0	11 .5	7.0	52 .4	
All N 1071 428 204 102 1804
59 .4 23 .7 11 .3 5 .6 100 .0
Significance Chi Sq . .00003
Cramer's V-test .11447
DR, Vol .XII(1996)22-23 97
Mojca Novak	
Table 3 :
AGE AND NON-MONETARY POVERTY
Inability of Making Ends Meet for a Number of Items
Age (Years)	None	One	Two	Three	All	
18-24
	
N 170 48 14 11 243
	• 70.0	19.7	5.6	4.7 13 .5	
25-34 N 210 83 48 25 365
	%	57.5	22 .6	13.1	6.7 20.2
35-44 N 198 111 35 17 360
54 .9	30.7	9.6	4.8	20.0	
45-54 N 152 74 53 16 295
	%	51 .5	25.1	17.9	5.5	16.4	
55-64 N 137 58 34 12 240
	• 57 .1	23.9	13 .9	5.0	13.3	
Above 65 N 204 56 21 20 301
67 .7	18.6	7.1 6.6	16.7	
All N 1071 429 204 102 1805
• 59 .3 23 .8 11 .3 5 .6 100 .0
Significance Chi Sq . .00000
Cramer's V-test .10031
Table 4 :
EDUCATION AND NON-MONETARY POVERTY
Inability of Making Ends Meet for a Number of Items
Education	None	One	Two	Three	All	
Without N 126 54 43 35 258
Education	%	48.8	21 .0	16.8	13.4	14.3	
Primary N 272 125 72 32 50
School	%	54.3	24.9	14.4	6.4	27.8	
Two/Three N 265 107 58 19 45
Years	%	59.0	23.9	12.9	4.3	24.9	
Secondary School
Secondary N 280 105 27 14 425
School	%	65.9	24.6	6.2 3.3	23.6	
College, N 126 38 4 2 170
University	%	74.2	22.5 2 .3 1 .0	9.4	
All N 1070 429 204 102 1805
• 59 .3 23 .8 11 .3 5 .6 100.0
Significance Chi Sq . .00000
Cramer's V-test .13026
98 DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23