APPENDIX I METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE

Poverty is a composite phenomenon that has economic, social and cultural dimensions, as well as political ones such as marginalization and weak political participation. As with similar phenomena, the definitions used to describe poverty often fall short of expressing the totality of its constituent elements. This short-coming is all the more pronounced when it comes to determining quantitative and accurate means of measuring it. Hence, the multiplicity of approaches to the measurement of poverty, with each approach focusing on one aspect or more, and adopting its own indicators and means of measurement. Among the more commonly used approaches is the one prescribed by the World Bank (and a number of other international and national institutions) namely, the poverty-line method. This approach for the measurement of poverty is based on the availability of the essential prerequisites for human sustenance (food, shelter, clothing, health, education). It entails the following steps:

defining a basic needs basket; determining the minimum cost of obtaining this basket, which constitutes the poverty line; and, calculating the proportion of the population that lives below the poverty line, the total cost of brining it up to this line (the poverty gap), and computing other poverty indicators. This method requires detailed information on household incomes and expenditures, commodity prices, and a number of other economic indicators. Hence, its application is contingent on household surveys. An alternative approach to the measurement of poverty uses the unsatisfied basic needs (UBN) method. This method measures poverty based on the extent to which the population is deprived of one or more of the basic needs. The database needed for applying this method consists of information usually collected within the framework of population and housing surveys or censuses, or household surveys that incorporate a number of socio-economic indicators other than those of income and expenditure. The steps involved in the application of the unsatisfied basic needs method involve: determining the fields/basic needs whose lack of satisfaction is considered to be an indicator of poverty; choosing indicators for measuring the degree of satisfaction of these needs; defining the threshold for each indicator, below which the level would express a state of poverty; defining a measurement scale for each indicator, and applying it to calculate the household score for that indicator; and, computing an index for the degree of basic needs satisfaction for each household, using the score values of its indicators.

Each of these two methods has its advantages and disadvantages. The choice of method will depend on the purpose of its application and the availability of information. The poverty line method is suitable for identifying households that do not earn an adequate income and for formulating income, employment and price policies and other policies to raise income. The unsatisfied basic needs method, in contrast, is suitable for identifying households that are deprived of satisfaction of basic needs such as shelter, water and sewerage services, and education and health services; and for formulating policies that would ensure the availability of the needed infrastructure, services and assistance to provide these needs. However, the ideal solution to deal with the various aspects of this issue is the adoption of the integrated poverty measurement method which combines the two approaches, and provides a more balanced picture of the poverty phenomenon and the policies needed to deal with it. The adoption of this method, however, is not feasible at present in Lebanon due to the lack of information on household income and expenditure. The application of the poverty line method, and combining the two methods ultimately in the integrated method for the measurement of poverty, would have to await the results of the household budget survey which is currently under preparation. In the present study, the unsatisfied basic needs method has been applied, using the results of the Population and Housing survey, which the Ministry of Social Affairs carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund. From the outset, it should be noted that the study is not concerned with the measurement of poverty in its narrow sense, but is rather an attempt at mapping living conditions in Lebanon by measuring the degree of satisfaction of basic needs for the different regions and population categories. Hence, households will not be classified into poor and non-poor, but into five categories denoting living conditions according to the degree of satisfaction of basic needs covered by the study, namely: very low, low, intermediate, high and very high degree of satisfaction. To deal with the other aspects of living conditions that could not be covered through the Population and Housing Survey, the study also draws on other sources, notably the Lebanon Mother and Child Health Survey and the Labor Market Study.

A. Basic Needs Indicators

The basic needs, for which indicators could be derived from the results of the Population and Housing Survey, fall into four fields (areas) as follows: a) Housing, including the following indicators: Rooms per person Built area per person Principal means of heating

b) Water and sewerage, including: Connection to a water network Principal source of potable water Means of disposal of sewage c) Education, including: Pursuit of studies Level of education d) Income-related indicators, including: Number of private cars Dependency rate Main occupation

Whereas the fields of "housing" and "education" express relatively well-defined needs, those of "water and sewerage" and "income-related indicators" cover more diversified and less well-defined needs. The field of water and sewerage covers needs that are related to potable water, cleanliness, health, etc. In turn, the income-related indicators include one direct indicator, namely the number of private cars, which expresses the degree of satisfaction of the need for transport. The other two indicators, namely the dependency rate and occupation, are indirect. Work in itself is not considered a "basic" need such that failure to satisfy it would mean that the household is deprived or poor, but as a means for earning an income that can be used to provide for needs. Moreover, the number of private cars can be considered to be an indirect indicator of total household income from all sources (work, property, transfers...), in contrast to the two other indicators which reflect income from work only. Thus, the three income-related indicators express in an indirect and approximate manner the degree of satisfaction of basic needs that depend on household income such as food, clothing, health and other basic needs not covered in the Population and Housing Survey.