Do consumo observado à linha de pobreza

Abstract

This article presents an empirical procedure for establishing poverty and indigence lines, which have a central role in poverty studies where income is used as proxy for well being. The procedure explicitly considers the availability of statistical data for Brazil, which enables the adoption of two basic principles: the use of observed consumption as a departure point, and the definition of a set of parameters, instead of a single national measure, in order to take into account local differences in the cost of living for the poor. The article describes the criteria for establishing the food basket and the pattern of non-food consumption, as well as a procedure for valuing and updating the income parameters.