Poverty and the Labor Market: Today and Yesterday

World Bank estimates put absolute poverty in Asia and Africa at 50-60% of the population in 1980 and at negligible levels in the developed world. This review investigates whether Asia was always so poor, as well as the history of poverty in today's rich countries. Poverty measurement methodolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnual review of economics Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 107 - 134
Main Author Allen, Robert C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Palo Alto Annual Reviews 02.08.2020
Annual Reviews, Inc
Subjects
19th century
Banking
economic development
England
India
Labor market
Middle Ages
Poverty
Rates
real wages
England
United Kingdom > UK
Asia
Africa
India
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Summary:World Bank estimates put absolute poverty in Asia and Africa at 50-60% of the population in 1980 and at negligible levels in the developed world. This review investigates whether Asia was always so poor, as well as the history of poverty in today's rich countries. Poverty measurement methodologies are reviewed, and it is argued that a basic needs approach is the best way to tackle poverty measurement in the past. This approach is related to recent advances in the measurement of historical real wages. Estimates of poverty rates in England between 1290 and 1867 are presented, as are estimates for preindustrial India. About one-quarter of the English population was in extreme poverty in the late Middle Ages, and the proportion had fallen below 10% by 1688. About one-quarter of the people in northern India lived in extreme poverty in the early nineteenth century, and the proportion was likely lower in 1600. The very high poverty rates in India in 1980 were a development of the colonial era.
ISSN:1941-1383
1941-1391
DOI:10.1146/annurev-economics-091819-014652