Talk:Timeline of poverty studies

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Review by Vipul on 2025-07-21

I only did a standalone evaluation this time, as I had done an external evaluation in my previous review (on 2025-05-12).

Standalone evaluation

General comments

  • Cause of poverty (column): I think the column is largely consistent with what I'd like to see, but there are too many distinct values. It would be good to normalize them to a smaller set of values, even at the cost of losing some granularity. Or at least prefix them with a normalized value and then add parenthetical detail if you want.
    • For instance, I think the causes "Malthusian scarcity" and "Population pressure" could be normalized to both say "Population pressure" even if there are nuances of difference, so that people sorting can see those two rows together.✔
    • Same for the causes "Healthcare access" and "Inadequate healthcare access" -- using "Healthcare access" for both would work better.✔
    • A lot of stuff can be consolidated under "Income inequality" as a prefix with additional detail in parentheses if needed.
  • Possible reduction strategy (column): Similar concern as for the cause of poverty column -- there are too many distinct values. I don't have specific suggestions here but you can use the suggestions I gave for the cause of poverty column here.
  • Rows about inequality measures; integrating the discussion better: As you talk about inequality measures and their properties, it may be worth mentioning which of these are new relative to the other previously discussed inequality measures. For instance, for Atkinson index, you can mention how it has various good properties that the Gini coefficient doesn't. Similarly, you can foreshadow this in the Gini discussion by mentioning some of the features it lacks (such as being subgroup decomposable).

Line-by-line comments

  • Atkinson index, you write: "As the aversion level increases (approaches 1), the index becomes more sensitive to changes at the lower end, while decreasing aversion (approaching 0) makes it more responsive to changes at the upper end of the income distribution." While the latter part of the sentence is true in relative terms, overall the index is never sensitive to the upper end of the income distribution; as Wikipedia says: "The Atkinson index is for no value of

ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } highly sensitive to top incomes because of the common restriction that ε {\displaystyle \varepsilon } is nonnegative." Consider rewording to make this clearer.

  • When mentioning the international poverty line, you should include that the $1 per day is adjusted for purchasing power parity. You mention this for the later row about the update to $2.15 per day.

Additional row suggestions

  • Losing Ground (book) seems to be worth mentioning, both because of the (at the time) new theory/perspective of how the welfare state might be playing a role in perpetuating poverty, and its impact on changes to welfare policy in the United States in the 1990s.✔

Review by Vipul on 2025-05-12

Standalone evaluation

General comments

  • Vipul: I feel like it's worth making a clearer distinction between absolute poverty and relative poverty (inequality). It's something alluded to in various rows, but a clearer separation would help. A lot of the measurement concepts seem to have to do with relative poverty / inequality.✔
  • Vipul: It also seems worthwhile to distinguish more clearly, through the event typology or other suitable columns, between causal theories of poverty, theories of how to address poverty, and various kinds of empirical and ethnographic research.✔/✘ (Please elaborate on this item and return it if needed)
  • Vipul: Maybe add a column for the geographical region? Even for stuff that may apply to other areas, having a quick way to eyeball the context that the research or concept development was originally done in can help provide interpretive context.✔

Line-by-line comments

  • "poverty population" -- do you mean "poor population" or "poverty of the population" instead?✔ (Sebastian: It addresses population in poverty, as it is used here [1]. Probably the term is more appropriate for some as it also includes people in situational poverty)
  • "Ghai" -- say who this person is, the way you offer brief introductions in the other timeline rows? ✔

External evaluation

Wikipedia

Vipul: The Wikipedia page is poverty studies redirects to Theories of poverty. I went through it. I don't have any particular suggestions for the timeline based on reading that Wikipedia page. ✔

ChatGPT

Vipul: I asked ChatGPT for a timeline of poverty studies. ChatGPT covered a lot of material similar to this timeline, though it did also talk of Malthus. Up to you if you want to include Malthus explicitly in the timeline.

Extended timeline

Year Cause of poverty (when applicable) Possible reduction strategy (when applicable) Event type Details Region
1927 – Welfare policies Literature The Social Service Review (SSR) is founded. It is devoted to the publication of thought provoking, original research on pressing social issues and promising social work practices and social welfare policies.[1] United States
1962 – – Organization The South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University (SAI) is formed. It combines seven departments in global humanities and social sciences, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty, researchers, and students. SAI aims to enhance understanding of South Asian realities and encourages dialogue with policymakers. The Kathmandu Office, operating since 1987, collaborates with Tribhuvan University, offering research support, academic exchange programs, and organizing events.[2] Germany
2018 (April 3) – Fact-based education promotion Literature Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund publish Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, which challenges common misconceptions about global trends and highlights the importance of basing opinions on strong supporting facts. The book explores why people consistently answer simple questions about global issues incorrectly and identifies ten instincts that distort perspectives, such as dividing the world into "us and them" and succumbing to media-driven fear. The authors emphasize the role of unconscious biases in shaping our understanding of the world and offer a more fact-based, optimistic view of global progress. The book aims to inspire readers to focus on real concerns and respond effectively to future challenges.[3] Sweden

Sources for expansion


  1. ↑ Glennerster, Howard (2002). "United States Poverty Studies and Poverty Measurement: The Past Twenty‐Five Years". Social Service Review. 76 (1): 83–107. doi:10.1086/324609. ISSN 0037-7961. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "South Asia Institute". www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Rosling, Hans; Rönnlund, Anna Rosling; Rosling, Ola (3 April 2018). "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think". Flatiron Books. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
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