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Child poverty and capabilities

Hicham Ait Mansour, Abdelhak Kamal

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingBook chapter

Abstract

The capability approach, as conceived and promoted by Sen and other scholars, has significantly advanced the conceptual debate on poverty and well-being. However, the measurement of capabilities still faces several challenges. Various measures have been developed in the literature to capture child poverty as deprivation of capability; however, significant gaps remain when it comes to the measurement of child capabilities. This chapter aims to synthesise the academic and policy debate about the potential of the capability approach to measure child poverty beyond the widely spread household poverty approaches, as well as proposing a set of dimensions that could be incorporated into household surveys for more comprehensive measures of child capabilities. It argues that capability in the area of poverty research has only been measured at the level of deprivation. It starts with the concept of poverty, explores the concept of capability, and ends by reviewing the current measurement debate.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook on Child Poverty and Inequality
EditorsAlberto Minujin, Enrique Delamonica
Place of PublicationCheltenham, U. K.
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Chapter6
Pages103-116
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9781802200430
ISBN (Print)9781802200423
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Jul 2025
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameElgar Handbooks on Inequality

Keywords

  • Child capabilities
  • Child poverty
  • Child poverty dimensions
  • Child well-being
  • Deprivation
  • Household poverty measures

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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