A multidimensional approach to child poverty in vietnam

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HCMC VIETNAM – NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH TO CHILD POVERTY IN VIETNAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS By LE THI KIM NHUNG Academic Supervisor: Dr TRAN TIEN KHAI Ho Chi Minh, December 2014 Le Thi Kim Nhung Master’s Thesis VNP19-2015 ABSTRACT In this study, multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam is approached using Young Lives Round dataset In total, 2898 children were analyzed after missing observations were taken out Six dimensions with 16 indicators were selected based on previous researches, public consensus and data availability These dimensions are: Education, Health, Nutrition, Shelter, Child Work and Leisure The Alkire and Foster (2011a) counting approach is applied to create multidimensional child poverty index and break down application is used for measuring the depth and intensity of child poverty When the poverty cut off point is set at level k=0.3, 30% of children were identified to be in multidimensional poor The shelter dimension contributes most deprived indicators to overall multidimensional child poverty rate while child insurance draws slightly attention due to its contribution to overal rate followed the shelter indications With respect to regional disparity, this is specially critical in upland northern region where children are greatly affected by multidimensional poverty Using poverty line from the cut off point, logistic regression model was carried out to determine major factors that causes overall multidimensional poverty Household characteristics including parents’ education, employment and household income have significant impact on poverty rate and effect high transition probabilities for the child moving into and out of multidimensional poor condition Key words: Multidimensional poverty measurement, Child Poverty, Deprivation, Alkire & Foster Methodology, Young Lives ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion this thesis is a both painful and enjoyable experience Fortunately, I received a lot of help and support from many people for making this thesis possible I would like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of them First and foremost, I would like to give my special appreciation and thanks to my academic supervisor, Dr Tran Tien Khai, for always being helpful, patient and encouraged His comments and instructive criticism advices helped me a lot in writing this thesis Similarly, I sincerely thank to the VNP Scientific Committee and staffs of Vietnam-Netherlands Programme for their helpfulness and willingness in providing useful information during VNP thesis process Lastly, I am also hugely appreciated to my family and my classmates at VNP K19 who supported me generously for completing this thesis TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF APPENDICES ABREVIATIONS .8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Problems Statement Research Objective .10 Main Research Question .11 Research Scope .11 Research Methodology 11 Thesis Structure 11 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 Definition 13 1.1 Child Poverty .13 1.2 Measuring Child Poverty 14 Dimensions and Indicators in Multidimensional Child Poverty 16 Child poverty Profile 20 Conceptual framework 22 Summary 22 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .23 DATA 23 METHODOLOGY 24 2.1 Calculation Multidimensional Child Poverty Index (MPI) 24 2.2 Rationale of dimensions and indicators selection 26 2.3 Weights & Poverty Cutoff 33 2.4 Determinants of child poverty 35 2.4.1 Child Characteristics 35 2.4.2 Household Characteristics 35 2.4.3 Community Characteristics .38 2.5 Econometrics model 38 Summary 42 CHAPTER IV: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS .43 Overview Child Poverty in Vietnam .43 Indicators Deprivation 45 Poverty cut off and MPI estimation 49 Censored Headcount and Related contributions to MPI 51 Determinants of Child Poverty 52 Summary 56 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 58 Conclusion 58 Key Lesson learned and policy options 59 Limitation and future research 61 REFERENCE 62 APPENDICES 67 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Conceptual Framework .22 Figure 2: Monetary and multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam 2008 divided by Urban, Rural and Ethnics .44 Figure 3: Monetary and Multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam, 2008 divided by Regions 45 Figure 4: Proportion of children deprived in each indicators 46 Figure 5: Indicators deprivation by gender based on Young Lives round .47 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Selected indicators and deprivation threshold (Alkire & Roche, 2012) 18 Table 2: Selected Domains, Indicators and Deprivations Cutoff 33 Table 3: Determinants of child poverty and model specifications .40 Table 4: Multidimensional child poverty estimate on various cut off point 50 Table 5: Contribution of indicators to MPI 51 Table 6: Decomposition of Multidimensional Poverty indices by region 52 Table 7: Descriptive statistics of Child Poverty determinants variables .53 Table 8: Logistic Regression estimates of determinants of child poverty 54 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Indicators for measuring multidimensional child poverty .67 Appendix 2: Logistic regression 74 Appendix 3: Regression result with Odds Ratio 75 Appendix 4: Marginal Effect 76 Appendix 5: Wald test 77 ABREVIATIONS GSO General Statistics Office HDI Human Development Index MDG Millennium Development Goal MPI Multidimensional Poverty Index VHLSS Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey MOLISA Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs UN United Nations UNGA United Nations General Assembly CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Problems Statement Child poverty approach has become an area of focus for last two decades resulting from widely acknowledgement of child focused perspective in poverty eradication (Gordon, 2003; Minujin, Delamonica, González, & Davidziuk, 2005) Major reasons contributed to this increasing acknowledgement include these: Firstly, children are at a higher risk in poverty than adults due to their dependence on distribution of resources from their parents, household and communities in their direct environment (White, Leavy, & Masters, 2003); Secondly, if children grow up in poverty, they seem to be in poor condition in their adulthood as well (Corak, 2006a) Next, children’s basic needs are specific and totally different from adult’s, especially needs for nutrition and education in early stages, and the deprivation of these needs in childhood can cause permanent effect on their later outcome (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1999) As a result, academic and policy makers attempt to target these needs effectively, based on empirical evidence of child poverty’s experiences (Boyden, 2005) and the use of multidimensional approach is necessary to capture these basic needs in identifying indicators for measuring child poverty (UNICEF, 2007b) In Vietnam, the rates of children who are considered in poverty condition remain high despite the rapid economic growth in the last decade since the renovation in late 1980s has large impact on country poverty reduction Hinsdale et al (2013) illustrate that one-third of Vietnamese children, estimated around million children are considered in multidimensional poor In addition, the high deprivation that children, are facing draws attention of further studies on children’s basic needs for effective policy intervention Despite the interest, there have not been comprehensive analyses of poverty towards children, as well as research studies investigating the causes of child poverty, presenting the knowledge gap for policy implication policy and target directed towards children In fact, numerous studies were conducted towards child poverty and deprivation through multidimensional approach in Vietnam (Roelen, 2013; Roelen & Gassmann, 2012; Roelen, Gassmann, & de Neubourg, 2010; UNICEF, 2008) However, these studies only focused on views of choosing methods measuring child poverty and deprivation through multidimensional approach, rather than investigating the characteristics of children who fall into poverty conditions There are many debates in previous researches on child poverty indicators for measurement in both monetary and multidimensional approach (Gordon, 2003) Therefore, choosing an appropriate methodology to measure child poverty and define factors impacting child poverty may result in effective policy implications and interventions, which better identify specific poverty situations (Roelen, Gassmann, & Neubourg, 2009) In addition, children’s living conditions depend mostly on their parents or caregivers’ well-being, thus it is necessary to understand causes underlying household poor’s conditions, such as economic and demographic factors that drive individual earning capacity The objective of this study is to demonstrate the choices of dimensions, indicators for measuring child poverty in Vietnam through multidimensional approach and estimate probability of a child being poor by using data from Young Lives Survey In particular, this study expects to investigate poverty situation among children aged under 15 in Vietnam and determine factors that decrease or increase the probability of child poverty Research Objective The two research objectives are specified as follows: (i) Identify the dimensions, indicators of child poverty in Vietnam through multidimensional approach (ii) Identify the determinants of child poverty 10 Boyden, J., Hardgrove, A., & Knowles, C (2005) Continuity and change in poor children's lives: evidence from Young LivesChildren Living in Poverty-A review of child poverty definitions, measurements, and policies (pp 25-27) Bradshaw, T K (2007) Theories of poverty and anti-poverty programs in community development Community Development, 38(1), 7-25 Chadwick, E (1842) Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population Og Great: Britain: Supplementary Report on the Results of Special Inquiry Into the Practice of Interment in Towns (Vol 1): HM Stationery Office Chen, W.-H., & Corak, M (2008) Child poverty and changes in child poverty Demography, 45(3), 537-553 Corak, M (2005) Principles and practicalities for measuring child poverty in the rich countries Corak, M (2006a) Do poor children become poor adults? Lessons from a crosscountry comparison of generational earnings mobility (Vol 13): Emerald Group Publishing Limited Corak, M (2006b) Principles and Practicalities for Measuring Child Poverty International Social Security Review, 59(2), 3-35 doi: 10.1111/j.1468246X.2006.00237.x Davis-Kean, P E (2005) The influence of parent education and family income on child achievement: the indirect role of parental expectations and the home environment Journal of family psychology, 19(2), 294 Deaton, A (1997) The analysis of household surveys: a microeconometric approach to development policy: World Bank Publications Decancq, K., & Lugo, M A (2013) Weights in multidimensional indices of wellbeing: An overview Econometric Reviews, 32(1), 7-34 Dercon, S (2012) Understanding Child Poverty in Developing Countries: Measurement and Analysis Childhood poverty multidisciplinary approaches Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan Duncan, G J., & Brooks-Gunn, J (1999) Consequences of growing up poor: Russell Sage Foundation Flores, G., Bauchner, H., Feinstein, A R., & Nguyen, U (1999) The impact of ethnicity, family income, and parental education on children's health and use of health services American journal of public health, 89(7), 1066-1071 Friedman, S., & Lichter, D T (1998) Spatial inequality and poverty among American children Population Research and Policy Review, 17(2), 91-109 Glewwe, P (1999) Why does mother's schooling raise child health in developing countries? Evidence from Morocco Journal of human resources, 124-159 Gordon, D (2003) Child poverty in the developing world: The Policy Press Grantham-McGregor, S., Cheung, Y B., Cueto, S., Glewwe, P., Richter, L., & Strupp, B (2007) Developmental potential in the first years for children in developing countries The Lancet, 369(9555), 60-70 Hinsdale, I., Marra, M., Kozel, V., Lanjouw, P., Brandt, L., Dat, V H., Viet Cuong, N (2013) 2012 Vietnam poverty assessment : well begun, not yet done - Vietnam's remarkable progress on poverty reduction and the emerging challenges (pp 1-190): The World Bank Lee, J.-S., & Bowen, N K (2006) Parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children American Educational Research Journal, 43(2), 193-218 Lichter, D T., & Eggebeen, D J (1994) The effect of parental employment on child poverty Journal of Marriage and the Family, 633-645 Luthar, S S (1999) Poverty and Children's Adjustment: SAGE Publications, Inc MDGs (2003) Indicators for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals: definitions, rationale, concepts and sources (Vol 95): United Nations Publications Minujin, A., & Delamonica, E (2005) Multidimensional child poverty in Tanzania: analysis of situation, changes and sensitivity of thresholdChildren Living in Poverty-A review of child poverty definitions, measurements, and policies (pp 25-27) Minujin, A., Delamonica, E., González, E., & Davidziuk, A (Eds.) (2005) Mosley, W H., & Chen, L C (1984) An Analytical Framework for the Study of Child Survival in Developing Countries Population and Development Review, 10, 25-45 doi: 10.2307/2807954 Nguyen, C V (2012) The Impact of Health Insurance for Children: Evidence from Vietnam: Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam Noble, M., Wright, G., & Cluver, L (2006) Developing a child-focused and multidimensional model of child poverty for South Africa Journal of Children & Poverty, 12(1), 39-53 Notten, G., Neubourg, C d., Makosso, B., & Mpoue, A B (2012) A multidimensional profile of child poverty in Congo Brazzaville Global child poverty and well-being: Measurement, concepts, policy and action: The Policy Press Pantazis, C., Townsend, P., & Gordon, D (2000) The necessities of life in Britain Bristol University, PSE Working Paper(1) Qi, D., & Wu, Y (2014) Child Poverty in China-A Multidimensional Deprivation Approach Child Indicators Research, 7(1), 89-118 doi: 10.1007/s12187-0139203-9 Roelen, K (2013) Multidimensional Child Poverty in Vietnam from a Longitudinal Perspective—Improved Lives or Impoverished Conditions? Child Indicators Research, 1-30 doi: 10.1007/s12187-013-9221-7 Roelen, K., & Gassmann, F (2012) Multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam Global child poverty and well-being: Measurement, concepts, policy and action: The Policy Press Roelen, K., Gassmann, F., & de Neubourg, C (2010) Child Poverty in Vietnam: Providing Insights Using a Country-Specific and Multidimensional Model Social Indicators Research, 98(1), 129-145 doi: 10.1007/s11205-009-9522-x Roelen, K., Gassmann, F., & Neubourg, C d (2009) The Importance of Choice and Definition for the Measurement of Child Poverty—the case of Vietnam Child Indicators Research, 2(3), 245-263 doi: 10.1007/s12187-008-9028-0 Ruhm, C J (2004) Parental employment and child cognitive development Journal of human resources, 39(1), 155-192 Sen, A (1985) A Sociological Approach to the Measurement of Poverty: A Reply [Poor, Relatively Speaking] Oxford Economic Papers, 37(4), 669-676 Sen, A (2004) Elements of a Theory of Human Rights Philosophy & Public Affairs, 32(4), 315-356 doi: 10.1111/j.1088-4963.2004.00017.x Thomas, D., & Strauss, J (1992) Prices, infrastructure, household characteristics and child height Journal of Development Economics, 39(2), 301-331 Thomas, D., Strauss, J., & Henriques, M.-H (1990) Child survival, height for age and household characteristics in Brazil Journal of Development Economics, 33(2), 197-234 Trani, J.-F., Biggeri, M., & Mauro, V (2013) The Multidimensionality of Child Poverty: Evidence from Afghanistan Social Indicators Research, 112(2), 391416 doi: 10.1007/s11205-013-0253-7 UNGA (2006) Promotion and protection of the rights of children, Report of the Third Committee New York: United Nations General Assembly UNICEF (1989) UNICEF Publications - The State of the World’s Children Special Edition: Celebrating 20 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child UNICEF from http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_51772.html UNICEF (2000) Poverty reduction begins with children UNICEF (2004) Childhood under threat: the state of the world's children 2005 Childhood under threat: the state of the world's children 2005: UNICEF UNICEF (2007a) UN General Assembly adopts powerful definition of child poverty New York UNICEF (2007b) UN General Assembly adopts powerful definition of child poverty from http://www.unicef.org/media/media_38003.html UNICEF (2008) Children in Viet Nam: Who and where are the poor The United Nations in Viet Nam from http://www.un.org.vn/vi/videos-press-centresubmenu-279/1772-children-in-viet-nam-who-and-where-are-the-poor-1643.html UNICEF (2009) The children in Viet Nam from http://www.unicef.org/vietnam/children.html White, H., Leavy, J., & Masters, A (2003) Comparative Perspectives on Child Poverty: A review of poverty measures Journal of Human Development, 4(3), 379-396 doi: 10.1080/1464988032000125755 WordBank (2006) Malnutrition Causes Heavy Economic Losses, Contributes to Half of All Child Deaths, But Can Be Prevented—New World Bank Report APPENDICES Appendix 1: Indicators for measuring multidimensional child poverty The following content describe in detail indicators in each dimension for measuring multidimensional poverty as well as its determined factors All of this information are extracted and selected from Young Lives dataset, round Vietnam Survey 2009 Education Education: ENRSCHR3 Are you currently enrolled in school? Codes are: 00= No, 01= Yes The child is deprived on this indicator if the answer is no Start formal school: STRAGER3 At what age did this child start formal school? The child is deprived on this indicator if the answer is over Nutrition Nutrition: Zbmi BMI-for-age z-score The child is deprived on this indicator if the BMI z score is e region2 region3 region4, nolog Logistic regression Log likelihood = -1328.871 Std Err z Number of obs = 2898 LR chi2(15) = 806.16 Prob > chi2 = 0.0000 Pseudo R2 = 0.2327 h_30p Coef P>|z| [95% Conf Interval] dum_gender f_edu2 4186772 -.3372687 0972455 1187709 4.31 -2.84 0.000 0.005 2280795 -.5700554 6092749 -.104482 f_edu3 -.7023784 1755897 -4.00 0.000 -1.046528 -.3582288 f_edu4 -.7268297 3773167 -1.93 0.054 -1.466357 0126974 m_edu2 -.4508913 1154731 -3.90 0.000 -.6772143 -.2245682 m_edu3 -.8700003 2226891 -3.91 0.000 -1.306463 -.4335377 m_edu4 -1.298306 4914164 -2.64 0.008 -2.261464 -.3351473 f_job2 2493186 3969799 0.63 0.530 -.5287476 1.027385 f_job3 1754284 3975997 0.44 0.659 -.6038528 9547095 m_job2 -.24543 1408641 -1.74 0.081 -.5215184 0306585 m_job3 hhincome -.3359355 -1.391288 1651781 1092361 -2.03 -12.74 0.042 0.000 -.6596786 -1.605387 -.0121924 -1.177189 region2 -1.652423 1712846 -9.65 0.000 -1.988135 -1.316712 region3 -2.340095 1639866 -14.27 0.000 -2.661503 -2.018688 region4 -1.516085 172807 -8.77 0.000 -1.854781 -1.17739 _cons 9.675436 7929934 12.20 0.000 8.121198 11.22967 Appendix 3: Regression result with Odds Ratio logit h_30p dum_gender f_edu2 f_edu3 f_edu4 m_edu2 m_edu3 m_edu4 f_job2 f_job3 m_job2 m_job3 hhincom > e region2 region3 region4, nolog or Logistic regression Log likelihood = -1328.871 h_30p Odds Ratio Std Err dum_gender f_edu2 1.51995 713717 1478083 0847688 f_edu3 4954056 f_edu4 4834392 m_edu2 z Number of obs = 2898 LR chi2(15) = 806.16 Prob > chi2 = 0.0000 Pseudo R2 = 0.2327 P>|z| [95% Conf Interval] 4.31 -2.84 0.000 0.005 1.256185 5654941 1.839097 900791 0869881 -4.00 0.000 3511548 6989131 1824097 -1.93 0.054 2307647 1.012778 6370601 0735633 -3.90 0.000 5080302 7988611 m_edu3 4189514 0932959 -3.91 0.000 2707761 6482119 m_edu4 272994 1341537 -2.64 0.008 1041978 7152328 f_job2 1.283151 509385 0.63 0.530 5893426 2.79375 f_job3 1.191757 4738421 0.44 0.659 5467013 2.597916 m_job2 7823681 1102075 -1.74 0.081 5936185 1.031133 m_job3 hhincome 7146692 2487546 1180477 027173 -2.03 -12.74 0.042 0.000 5170175 2008118 9878817 3081436 region2 191585 0328156 -9.65 0.000 1369506 2680151 region3 0963184 0157949 -14.27 0.000 0698432 1328297 region4 2195698 0379432 -8.77 0.000 1564872 3080819 _cons 15921.67 12625.78 12.20 0.000 3365.049 75333.1 Appendix 4: Marginal Effect margin, dydx(*) atmeans Conditional marginal effects Model VCE : OIM Number of obs Expression : Pr(h_30p), predict() dy/dx w.r.t : dum_gender f_edu2 f_edu3 f_edu4 m_edu2 region2 region3 region4 at : dum_gender = 4906832 f_edu2 = 4755003 f_edu3 = 1828847 f_edu4 = 0752243 m_edu2 = 5141477 m_edu3 = 1166322 m_edu4 = 0614217 f_job2 = 5479641 f_job3 = 4347826 m_job2 = 5955832 m_job3 = 2553485 hhincome = 6.224982 region2 = 2229124 region3 = 4520359 region4 = 2118703 dy/dx dum_gender f_edu2 f_edu3 f_edu4 m_edu2 m_edu3 m_edu4 f_job2 f_job3 m_job2 m_job3 hhincome region2 region3 region4 0703483 -.0566696 -.1180173 -.1221257 -.0757611 -.146182 -.2181481 0418918 0294764 -.0412384 -.0564456 -.2337715 -.2776488 -.393195 -.2547405 Delta-method Std Err .0163076 0200508 0294761 0629719 0194425 0370914 0811043 0666911 0668015 0236518 0277701 0177963 030008 0285045 03012 z 4.31 -2.83 -4.00 -1.94 -3.90 -3.94 -2.69 0.63 0.44 -1.74 -2.03 -13.14 -9.25 -13.79 -8.46 = 2898 m_edu3 m_edu4 f_job2 f_job3 m_job2 m_job3 (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) (mean) P>|z| 0.000 0.005 0.000 0.052 0.000 0.000 0.007 0.530 0.659 0.081 0.042 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 [95% Conf Interval] 038386 -.0959684 -.1757893 -.2455484 -.1138677 -.2188798 -.3771097 -.0888204 -.1014522 -.0875951 -.110874 -.2686517 -.3364634 -.4490628 -.3137747 1023106 -.0173709 -.0602453 0012971 -.0376545 -.0734841 -.0591865 172604 1604049 0051182 -.0020173 -.1988913 -.2188341 -.3373271 -.1957064 hhincome Appendix 5: Wald test test dum_gender f_edu2 f_edu3 f_edu4 m_edu2 m_edu3 m_edu4 f_job2 f_job3 m_job2 m_job3 hhincome region > region3 region4, ( 1) [h_30p]dum_gender = ( 2) [h_30p]f_edu2 = ( 3) [h_30p]f_edu3 = ( 4) [h_30p]f_edu4 = ( 5) [h_30p]m_edu2 = ( 6) [h_30p]m_edu3 = ( 7) [h_30p]m_edu4 = ( 8) [h_30p]f_job2 = ( 9) [h_30p]f_job3 = (10) [h_30p]m_job2 = (11) [h_30p]m_job3 = (12) [h_30p]hhincome = (13) [h_30p]region2 = (14) [h_30p]region3 = (15) [h_30p]region4 = chi2( 15) = Prob > chi2 = 500.07 0.0000 ... poverty to create a meaningful and reliable poverty index Basically, data availability is the most considerable issue when dimensions and indicators are selected in multidimensional approach towards... children have right to attain the standard health and healthcare In the same vein apply for Child Poverty in Vietnam, the Law on the Protection, Care and Education of Children in Vietnam draws attention... indicators for measurement in both monetary and multidimensional approach (Gordon, 2003) Therefore, choosing an appropriate methodology to measure child poverty and define factors impacting child