On Economic Poverty in Finland in the 1990s

Abstract

We have examined recent trends in the poverty in Finland using two data sourees, the Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the Income Distribution statistics (IDS). We have drawn on the recent literature on poverty analysis to analyse a range of poverty measures. Scalar measures were complemented by an investigation of stochastic dominance in the analysis of poverty. As regards trends in poverty over time, the long-run perspective available from the HBS indicates that from the early 1970s to the beginning of 1990s, the relative poverty rate has declined. The latter part of the 1990s was clearly different. We find that poverty rose and became more severe over the period 1995-1999 for a very broad class of poverty measures and a wide range of poverty lines. Whilst the total numbers in poverty during the 1990s on these various definitions have risen markedly, the composition of the poor has also changed significantly. There is little doubt that unemployed households are the most vulnerable group of the population.