A Class of Poverty Indices

A review of a number of well-known poverty indices shows that two axiomatic requirements to a pover ty index are never satisfied simultaneously. The choice between these two axioms depends on the nature of the poverty line. A class of pov erty indices is developed as an application of the Dalton and Atkinso n inequality to poverty measurement. Almost all other poverty indices are seen to be a member of the class. The formulation of this class clarifies the basic problems involved in poverty measurement.