A
number of partial studies were carried out during the first half of the
1990s which attempted to diagnose the evolution of living conditions in
Lebanon and income distribution, and estimate the magnitude of the
poverty phenomenon. The first of these studies appeared in the Lebanese
national report to the Social Summit in Copenhagen; working papers and
studies issued by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
(ESCWA) and the United Nations Development Programme; and as field
inquiries covering samples of Lebanese households . Based on these
studies, the phenomenon of poverty and its magnitude were diagnosed as
follows:
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* Attempts were made to estimate
the poverty line based on previous computations that adopt the
methodology of measuring the least cost calorie consumption and meal .
Using this approach , the lower poverty line (abject poverty) which
includes expenditures on food only, was estimated to be around $306 a
month in the urban setting at the end of 1993 for a household consisting
of five individuals - which is the average household size in Lebanon.
According to the same study, the upper poverty line (absolute poverty)
which covers in addition to expenditures on food, the cost of shelter,
clothing, health care, education and other basic needs for a household
of five individuals, amounted to around $618 a month. In the rural
setting, the lower poverty line for a household of five individuals was
estimated at around $226 and the upper poverty line at $377.
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* Drawing on the results of a
sample survey of one thousand households in 1994, and using the
aforementioned estimate of the upper poverty line in the urban setting,
the proportion of poor Lebanese households was estimated to be around 28
percent of the total, of which 7.5 percent lived in a state of abject
poverty, i.e. having an income below the lower poverty line .
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* According to the same
estimates, the spread of poverty varies considerably between regions and
sectors. Among agricultural households, 75 percent are poor, compared to
31 percent of households whose main provider works in the public
administration, 26 percent in industry, 16 percent in services and 13
percent in trade. Also, the majority of the poor live in the suburbs of
the capital and other cities. The destitute poor live in their
overwhelming majority in the rural areas where they represent one fourth
of the population. It is believed that abject poverty is concentrated in
the remote regions of the kadas of Baalbeck and Hermel in the Bekaa, and
in Akkar in North Lebanon. The rest of the destitute poor are to be
found in the suburbs of the capital and other cities .
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* Concerning the distribution of
income, an expansion could be observed in the size of the intermediate
and high income categories during the 1960s and the first half of the
1970s, and a subsequent reversal of the trend with the outbreak of the
war in 1975. As a result, the income distribution pattern in the mid
1990s came to resemble that which prevailed at the beginning of the
1960s, with the share of the intermediate and high income categories
shrinking in favor of the low income category. These trends are
summarized in Table 4 below.
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| Table
4. Percentage distribution of income categories, selected periods |
| Income
Category |
Period |
| 1959-1960
|
1973-1974 |
1994-1995 |
| Low |
50 |
22 |
52 |
| Intermediate |
32 |
57 |
38 |
| High |
18 |
21 |
10 |
Source: 1959-1960: République
Libanaise, Ministère du Plan, Besoins et Possibilités de Développement
du Liban, Tome I, Mission IRFED, Liban, 1960-1961. 1973-1974: Yves
Schemeil, Sociologie du Système Politique Libanais, Université
de Grenoble, 1976. 1994-1995: Centre d'Information Stratégique et
Economique (CISE).
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The Labor market
Study, which was published by the National Employment Office in 1997,
contains detailed data on the level of wages.
In 1998, the Central Administration for Statistics published a study on
Household Living Conditions in Lebanon. This study is considered at
present to be the most important source of data on household incomes and
expenditures. Based on this study, the income and expenditure situation
of households may be summarized as follows: |
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* The average monthly household
income in Lebanon amounts to LL 1,540,000 (average size of household is
4.8 individuals) with significant variations between the mohafazats.
These variations range between LL 1,089,000 in the Mohafazat of Nabatieh
(average size of households is 4.4 individuals), and a maximum of LL
2,069,000 in Beirut (average size of household is 4.3 individuals). The
lowest per capita income is recorded in the Mohafazat of the North,
where the average size of the household is the largest (5.4
individuals).
*
The study includes a classification of the population according to nine
categories of monthly income which vary between the minimum wage (LL
300,000) and LL 5 million and above. These include earnings from work
and other sources. The following table depicts the distribution of
households by income category at the level of mohafazat and for Lebanon
as a whole. The table reveals important regional disparities in the
structure of household incomes.
*
The Household Living Conditions in Lebanon study did not include a
definition of the poverty line. It included, however, a kind of an
auto-determination by asking households to estimate the monthly income
that meets their basic living needs. The response varied according to
the size of the household from L.L. 1,230,000 for a household of two
individuals to L.L. 1,971,999 for one having six individuals; the
national average for all households amounting to L.L. 1,730,000.
*
Of the total, 37.1 percent of households stated that their income was
not adequate. This feeling of hardship is particulary felt by households
with an average monthly income below L.L. 800,000. The study also shows
that the proportion of households that are obliged to borrow to balance
their budget reaches 30.6 percent for Lebanon as a whole. It varies from
17.8 percent in Nabatieh and 25.4 percent in Mount Lebanon (excluding
the suburbs), to 42.7 percent in the North. The basic needs which prompt
households to borrow are: subsistence needs (14.9 percent of
households), education (8.9 percent), housing (7.6 percent) and
hospitalization (5.1 percent). |
Table
5. Distribution of households based on average monthly income and
mohafazat of residence
|
| Income Category (LL 000')
|
All
Lebanon |
Beirut |
Suburbs of
Beirut |
Mount
Lebanon (excl. Suburbs) |
The North |
The South |
Nabatieh |
Bekaa |
| Less than 300 |
5.8 |
4.1 |
2.8 |
3.6 |
8.5 |
10.4 |
7.0 |
7.5 |
| 300-500 |
3.0 |
10.3 |
9.6 |
7.8 |
17.0 |
22.8 |
14.5 |
13.0 |
| 500-800 |
21.0 |
15.9 |
21.5 |
15.5 |
23.3 |
24.5 |
25.4 |
22.4 |
| 800-1200 |
21.1 |
18.9 |
22.4 |
19.3 |
21.5 |
18.0 |
24.0 |
24.1 |
| 1200-1600 |
13.4 |
14.7 |
15.2 |
14.2 |
11.5 |
10.0 |
13.4 |
13.3 |
| 1600-2400 |
12.1 |
14.9 |
12.2 |
16.2 |
10.6 |
6.8 |
9.7 |
11.9 |
| 2400-3200 |
5.9 |
7.3 |
7.2 |
9.9 |
3.7 |
3.4 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
| 3200-5000 |
4.3 |
6.3 |
5.0 |
8.2 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
1.6 |
2.6 |
| 5000 and above |
3.1 |
6.7 |
3.8 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
0.6 |
1.3 |
| Not specified |
0.3 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
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