ABSTRACT
While it is generally agreed that poverty is multidimensional, there is still considerable doubt as to how multidimensionality should be conceptualised and measured. Most importantly, there is no consensus as to the dimensions of poverty. To date, these have been determined top-down by experts and policy makers ignoring demands by the United Nations Human Rights Council that the views of people experiencing poverty should be taken seriously. Therefore, this chapter reports findings from a unique study on the dimensions of poverty recently conducted simultaneously by people living in poverty in six countries spanning five continents. In addition, the chapter guides the reader through the main debates concerning the multidimensionality of poverty including the potential merits of multidimensional over unidimensional conceptualisations, asks whether dimensions are best considered to be independent or related, and contrasts score-card approaches to measurement with cumulative ones necessitating decisions on both the weighting of dimensions and the most appropriate methods of aggregating them.
