Blind spots of traditional poverty measurement: the case of migrants

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine two blind-spots of poverty measurement with application to the study of migrant poverty. The first regards the definition of income (in particular the consideration of non-cash income components in the definition of income) and the second regards the methodological treatment of a migrant group with very particular characteristics (those working as domestic workers). Both issues have eluded the attention of many applied researchers and practitioners. The microdata of the 2009 Cyprus Family Expenditure Survey are used to illustrate the importance of the points made above as well as to put forth potential solutions.