The paradox of poverty: portugal 1980-1989

• Main Author: Da Costa, Alfredo Bruto
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1992
• Subjects: Economics
• ISBN: 9781073266449; 1073266443

Portugal has a long tradition of concern for the poor, expressed in the form of individual attitudes as well as in terms of institutions and public policies. Yet, poverty persists on a large scale. This study attempts to contribute to the explanation of this apparent paradox, with especial reference to the 1980s. Chapter 1 consists of a historical reflection, which tries to provide historical evidence of the general concern of society for the poor, highlighting the attitude of the Portuguese society towards poverty, since the early times of the foundation of the nation up to the present-day Portuguese society: individual attitudes and respective sources of inspiration, types of institutions set up to provide aid to the needy and the principles that guided their activity, the role of public authorities and the pattern of public policies. The chapter also looks for historical evidence about the approach to the problem of poverty underlying the efforts developed to tackle it, and establishes some comparisons between the Portuguese experience and contemporary experiences in other European societies. Chapter 2 contains a critical survey of the concepts of poverty in the European societies, undertaken with the aim of choosing the concept that better suited the Portuguese context, for the empirical part of the study. Chapter 3 discusses the theoretical and methodological aspects of the measurement of poverty and justifies the adoption of a mix of normative and inductive methodologies, the choice of consumption as the indicator for measuring poverty. Other relevant aspects discussed refer to the unit of analysis, updating poverty lines and equivalence scales. Chapter 4 is entirely devoted to the estimation of poverty lines for 1980 and 1989, with the data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of 1980-81 and the Family Budget Survey of 1989-90, both conducted by the Institute of Statistics (Lisboa). Separate poverty lines are established for rural areas and urban centres, in 1980 and 1989. (DX174841)