Human Poverty

• Human poverty encompasses lack of capability, lack of political freedom, inability to participate in the decision-making process, lack of personal security and inability to participate in the life of community.
• Human poverty index seeks to measure the degree of deprivation in these areas by examining the five attributes of poverty: illiteracy, malnutrition among children, early death, poor health care and poor access to safe drinking water.

What is the human poverty index (HPI-1 and HPI-2)?

The HPI-1—human poverty index for developing countries—measures human deprivations in the same three aspects of human development as the HDI (longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living).

For HPI-1 (developing countries):

1. P.1. Deprivations in longevity measured by probability at birth of not surviving to age 40;
2. P.2. Deprivations in knowledge are measured by percentage of adults who are illiterate;
3. P.3. Deprivation in economic provisioning
4. P.3.1 The percentage of people not having access to an improved water source
5. P.3.2 The percentage of children below the age of five who are underweight.