Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

empirically assesses multidimensional poverty both at the national and subnational

level. Based on the Alkire-Foster method and focusing on four

dimensions of well-being –education, health, income and living standard– this

study estimates the level and depth of multidimensional poverty for Chile in 2011.

At national level, the results show that fewer individuals are subject to

multidimensional poverty compared to the number of poor people estimated

using the national income poverty line, however, large variance is found at the

regional level, some regions present higher levels of multidimensional poverty

than income poverty. Nonetheless, multidimensional poverty at the regional level

appears to be varied, both in terms of prevalence and its nature. The

multidimensional nature of this methodology provides a deeper understanding of

poverty and deprivation, thus it complements income poverty estimates by

informing policymakers about the joint distribution of several deprivations. This

information can be used to better design and target poverty alleviation programs,

as well as better allocate resources at the regional and local level.