HLEG thematic workshop on Measurement of Well Being and Development in Africa, 12-14 November 2015, Durban, South Africa, More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-economic-social-progress

1. Multidimensional Deprivation:
The MPI indicators
Beyond GDP for Africa
Gebrehiwot Ageba Kebedew
12-14 November 2015
Durban, South Africa

2. Multidimensional Deprivation
• HDI as a yardstick of wellbeing is an
improvement over GDP measure as it takes a
broader vision of human development: assesses
average long-term progress in 3 dimensions of
HD: Long & healthy life, Access to knowledge, &
Decent standard of living.
• However, in many developing countries poor
individuals & HHs typically face multiple
deprivations simultaneously – E.g.
- The same individual/HH could be deprived in
education, health and standard of living.

3. MPI Indicators & Gaps
. MPI identifies deprivations in 3 dimensions: education, health
and standard of living in same HHs
• Education indicators (years of schooling and children enrolled)
- Education attainment threshold: completion of 6 years of
schooling: But,
. access to education and completion rate differs considerably
by gender and geography (e.g. rural vs urban) – mean years of
schooling conceals these differences in deprivation.
. quality of education matters for job opportunities, level of
earnings/wages, and chances of retaining one’s job.
. quality of education differs considerably across schools - access
to quality education differs b/n rural & urban areas, within
urban areas (rich & poor HHs) – availability of qualified
teachers, teacher turnover, adequate teaching/learning
facilities, school management, access to extra reading materials,
etc.

4. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
→ 6 years of schooling in schools of high quality differences may not be
comparable - In education system dominated by poor quality education, the
mean years of schooling tends to over-estimate the educational attainment.
- Need to capture data on:
(i) education quality
(ii) Inequality in access to quality education
Child enrolment: drop-out & repetition rates are high (especially in rural
schools and among girls), making it weak indicator- Would Net attendance
ratio be better?
• Health dimension indicators (based on nutrition & child mortality)
- But, a mother’s death has important consequences on a family, especially
children – not captured in the MPI (DHS and other surveys usually capture
such data).
- Death is extreme form of deprivation - Ill health of children also major
deprivation, affecting both family (e.g. health related expenses) and future
of the children – again many surveys have data on this.
- Inequalities in access to health services in general and quality of services
available are large (e.g. rural vs urban, rich vs poor, women & girls)

5. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
• Standard of living indicators (type of cooking fuel, access to
electricity, water, toilet, floor type & ownership of basic assets)
- Availability of electricity does not guarantee use of electricity
by HHs – use requires affordability of tariff & necessary
appliances/most cannot afford more than electricity for
lighting. Measuring availability overestimates - Why not
measure actual use of electricity for lighting, cooking,
heating, irrigation pumping, etc.?
- Need to also look at linkage of energy access to health,
education, potable water, livelihoods, business opportunities,
etc. with explicit emphasis on its implication for women and
girls. E.g. number of households, health facilities, schools, etc.
actually connected and accessing energy 24/7, number of
female-headed poor HHs connected, etc.
- Availability irrespective of source (renewable or not)?
Sustainability?

6. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
– Having a home with a dirt, sand or dung floor – Is this as
important in rural settlements (which are less crowded, less
polluted/contaminated environment) as it is in urban? – may
need to be given different weights.
- Asset ownership - Having at least one asset related to access
to information (radio, TV, telephone), to mobility (bike,
motorbike, car, truck, animal cart, motorboat), or to
livelihood (refrigerator, arable land, livestock).
. Some may be less relevant – e.g. terrain makes bike,
motorbike, car & truck less suited for mobility in rural Ethiopia –
rural people own mule, horse, camel, & donkey for this and
other reasons (store of wealth, prestige) → need to include such
assets & weights may have to be differentiated.

7. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
• Need to look at vulnerability other than inadequate income (e.g.
job loss, price rise, hazards, insecurity)
e.g. Unemployment/joblessness, hence income vulnerability, high
(especially urban) – more so among urban youth and female youth -
several members of a HH could be unemployed.
- Unemployment/job loss can have devastating impact on
individuals, their families and community which could be long-
lasting.
. Being unemployed is costly due to: (i) loss of income/financial
hardship (which will be reflected not only on current living standard
of the family but also prospects of their children (education, health,
etc.);
(ii) loss of skills, erosion of self-confidence/self esteem, and dignity;
(iii) Loss of productive resources to the economy.
. Low education/skills, poor health, lack of employment, and income
poverty interact compounding the deprivation.

8. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
•The living standard indicators ignore what individuals have to
go through to acquire/pay for those material things - Many do
jobs that are dangerous, unhealthy, indecent or engage in
activities that threaten sustainability/living standard of future
generations
• Capturing inequality & lack of inclusion:
- Some could be more deprived (in terms of education, health,
employment, income, access to and/or security of assets, access
to justice/security, voice/participation in decision making, etc.)
than others because of their gender, age, ethnicity, geography (
rural vs urban), etc.
- Coverage of elderly, disabled, children, women and other
vulnerable groups in social protection.
• Being poor over many years (chronic poverty) may lead to
next generation being poor – the longer one stays poor the
harder to escape poverty. How could this be captured?

9. MPI Indicators & Gaps (cont.)
An MPI that captures:
- quality of education & health services,
- inequalities in access to these
- influence of citizens on both quality & access
- Use (rather than availability) of electricity
- What individuals go through to earn income needed
to access these (e.g. decent work, job security, etc.)
- Vulnerabilities - extent & duration of
unemployment,
- Coverage of elderly, disabled, children, women and
other vulnerable groups in social protection.

10. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION