Abstract

One of the reasons for the failure of many poverty and inequality reduction programs in developing countries is due to the dominant income-based measurement approach. Therefore, the main cause of poverty is not only a consequence of lack of income, but is also the result of the deprivation of capabilities to get out of poverty. The aim of this study is mapping the incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty in Iran rural and urban areas and comparing with the results of income per capita indicator classification. The results show that the incidence and intensity of poverty in Iran is respectively 12.3% and 30.6%. Poverty is more prevalent in rural areas compared to urban areas with about 21.4% of the rural households considered poor compared to 5.86% of urban households. The poorest province is Sistan and Baluchestan (S&B) and there are more  poorer households in the southeastern provinces. Comparing the classification results of the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) and income per capita indicator displays low overlap. Given the importance of identifying the most vulnerable households in Iran, the MPI seem to offers more valuable and different information to the policy makers, regardless of the problems in measuring the households' income and wealth.

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