Towards a Unified Framework for Understanding the Depth, Breadth and Duration of Poverty

In recent decades there have been considerable steps forward in terms of understanding poverty. This paper identifies three `meta dimensions` of poverty, which relate to: (1) depth and severity; (2) breadth and multidimensionality; and (3) time and duration. The advances that have been made in terms of conceptualising, measuring and analysing poverty in each of these areas are briefly considered. It is shown that the third and final `meta-dimension` - time and duration - has been neglected until relatively recently. It is argued that time, and in particular, duration is an important analytical component for understanding the experience of poverty and the processes that create and reduce poverty. The final part of the paper suggests a way of integrating time into a unified framework for understanding poverty, which can deal with the depth, breadth and duration of poverty. This involves extending Qizilbash`s poverty and vagueness methodology to include duration.