Al Majmoua,
The Lebanese Association For development
POVERTY MAP
Morwenn Cornec
April 2004
Micro credit is perceived as part of the solution for poverty. As a micro credit institution
Al Majmoua needs to develop a precise understanding of poverty in Lebanon in order to
better target its product distribution and development.
The Lebanese experience in the last three decades demonstrates the existence of a direct
and close link between economic growth on the one hand and improvement in the standard of
living and alleviation of poverty on the other hand. Nevertheless growth by itself is not
sufficient to alleviate poverty.
A number of studies were carried out during the first half of the 1990s, which attempted
to diagnose the evolution of living conditions in Lebanon and income distribution, and
estimation of the magnitude of the poverty phenomenon. It reveals that poverty increased
considerably since 1975 because of the civil war.
 The first output of these studies appeared in the Lebanese national report presented
during the Social Summit in Copenhagen (1995).
 Later issues concerned working papers and studies published by the ESCWA1 and the
United Nations Development Program and as field inquiries covering samples of
Lebanese households.
 The Social Affairs Ministry along with the UN Development Program issued a
preliminary Living Conditions Map in 1998. Currently the Ministry and the Central
Statistics Department are conducting a living conditions field study2.
 In 1998, the Central Administration for Statistics published a study on Household
Living Conditions in Lebanon. This study is considered at present to be the most
reliable source of data on household incomes and expenditures.
There are no precise recent studies on poverty in Lebanon because of the lack of
accessible micro-data necessary for achieving the qualitative jump needed in assessing its
nature and extent.
Therefore this study aims at consolidating data from different sources to build a recent
poverty map3 of Lebanese regions.
The first part gives an overview of several concepts of poverty. The second part presents
the definition of poverty that we will adopt in this study as well as the observable indicators
that will be used to measure it.
1
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
A new social map is due in the fall of 2004 and a poverty report, with a recalibrated poverty line, is
projected for the second half of 2005.
3
Poverty maps are spatial representations of poverty assessments.
2
POVERTY CONCEPT
The right to survival with access to food is a very important notion and a universal
concept (poverty is defined as "the lack of basic necessities").
Attempts were made to estimate the poverty line4 (which various institutions and
individuals define differently) based on previous computations that adopt the methodology of
measuring the least cost calorie consumption and meal. Using this approach, the lower
poverty line (abject poverty) includes expenditures on food only.
It is not enough to fix a poverty line, but it is important to understand the country’s
situation of poverty. We can therefore define 3 indicators which reflect better the situation of
the country’s poverty.
The Gini coefficient is a measure of the income inequality in a society. It is a number
between 0 and 1, where 0 means perfect equality (everyone has the same income) and 1
means perfect inequality (one person has all the income, everyone else earns nothing).
Although the Gini coefficient is mostly used to measure income inequality, it can be used to
measure wealth inequality as well. For Lebanon, in 1997, it was 0.435.
Furthermore, the Poverty gap ratio (%) is the mean distance separating the population
from the poverty line (with the non-poor being given a distance of zero), expressed as a
percentage of the poverty line. It is defined as the average amount that income falls below the
poverty level divided by the poverty level. It is a measure that tells about the depth of the
poverty (World Bank). Therefore, the poverty gap gives the average interval between the
poor and the poverty line.
The poverty gap index (PGI) measures the depth of poverty in a country or region, based
on the aggregate poverty deficit of the poor relative to the poverty line. It is inadequate in
assessing the impact of specific policies on the poor. On the other hand, the Poverty Gap
Index increases with the distance of the poor below the poverty line, and thus gives a good
indication of the depth of poverty. A decline in the Poverty Gap Index reflects an
improvement in the current situation.
Thus, definitions are various according to the socio-economic framework of the
individuals observed. The literature recalls mainly the relative and absolute poverty. There
has been a long debate in economics about whether income or consumption poverty lines
should be defined in absolute or relative terms.
 Absolute poverty
Most international organizations define the poverty line in an absolute way (the upper
poverty line) as the level of income necessary for people to buy the goods necessary to their
survival5. For instance the “1 dollar a day” line - at 1985 purchasing power parity- has been
extensively used ever since the 1990 World Development Report as the ‘extreme’ poverty
line in studies of the extent of poverty, its socio-demographic profile and its evolution in the
world and in specific countries.
4
5
It is defined as a line that divides the poor from the non-poor, or the poor from the extremely poor.
“Absolute poverty, relative deprivation and social exclusion”, François Bourgignon
There is no standard that defines absolute poverty: the level of income necessary for these
minimum standards is often referred to as the poverty line (defined in a common currency
and held constant for all countries and regions).
 Relative poverty
Other analysts prefer defining the poverty line in relative terms as some proportion of the
mean or the median income in the country under analysis. With such a definition some
authors prefer then to refer to “relative deprivation” rather than poverty. However, no such
semantic precaution is taken when the European Commission defines the European poor as
all people whose consumption expenditures or income falls below 50 per cent of the mean in
the country where they live.
Absolute and relative poverty concepts are simply aimed at describing and analyzing
different issues. Physical poverty is about mere survival, that is the capacity to buy food and
all the goods necessary for the fulfillment of basic physical needs. Relative poverty, or social
deprivation is about not being like others.
Poverty can be seen as low levels of capability or “the failure of basic capabilities to
reach certain minimum acceptable levels”6. The lack of capabilities to be free from hunger
and to live with dignity is part of poverty. But the lack of incomes, assets, opportunities, and
other instrumental categories cannot be treated at parity with lack of basic capabilities as
dimensions of poverty.
Two concepts have come to predominate: those of the World Bank and the UNDP:

World Bank
The World Bank has always defined poverty according to accessible resources that is to
say according to monetary income. The poor are then those who fall short of a certain income
threshold and/or a certain amount of expenditure for consumption.

UNDP
As for the UNDP, it views poverty as "being deprived of those opportunities and choices
that are essential to human development: for a long, healthy, creative life; for a reasonable
standard of living; for freedom, dignity, self-respect and respect from others" (life situation
approach). What’s more, we can estimate the poverty thanks to two main indicators:
- The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the average achievement in three basic
dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent
standard of living.
- The Human Poverty Index (HPI) measures deprivations in the three basic dimensions
captured in the human development index in addition to indicators of social exclusion.
6
A. Sen 1992, p.109.
The statistics7 even if they were 1993 data gives an idea of the poverty in Lebanon.
The lower poverty line, which includes expenditures for food only, was estimated to be
around $306 a month in urban setting at the end of 1993 for a household consisting of five
individuals - which is the average household size in Lebanon. The abject poverty was
estimated at around $226 in a rural setting.
According to the same study, the absolute poverty, for a household of five individuals,
amounted to around $618 a month in the urban setting. In the rural setting, the upper poverty
line was estimated at around at $377.
7
Studies issued by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the United
Nations Development Program.
POVERTY TOOLS MEASURES
Thus there are many approaches to the concept of poverty and not a single definition of
who are the poor. In each survey a poverty concept is defined considering cultural, social and
economic environment of the observed community. Therefore this study will measure
poverty in Lebanon covering the following schemes: socio-economic characteristics, shelter,
transport, health care, income patterns and household budget.
The starting point is a list of items (car, phone…) and events (main source of potable
water, all school age children attending school…) that people may or may not believe are
basic necessities. The list should be seen as a menu of possibilities (according to the
Administration Centrale de la Statistique).
1. Socio-economic characteristics
Education and schooling
o Illiteracy (considering age and gender differentials). (T 2.5) → illiterate is defined
in this study, as the one who cannot read, or write. The illiterate rate is defined by
the proportion of people without instruction who have more than 10 years,
compared to total residents in the same category of age.
o Distribution of the households according to the number of children who currently
attend school per household according to the residence (in %). (T 2.4) → pupils
and academics included. A household consists of one or more individuals,
whether relatives or not, who live together and share the dwelling and food.
Professional life
o Unemployment rate (by gender, age and area). (T 2.9) → the number of
unemployed includes those who search for work for the first time.
2. Shelter
o Distribution of the households per degree of overpopulation in the housing
according to the residence (in %). (T 3.12) → we can establish a measurement
scale of the settlement density in 3 categories: critical overpopulation (more than
3 people in a room or more than 8 people in less than 4 rooms), the accentuated
under-settlement (a person by room) and finally the normal settlement.
o Relative frequency of households who have housing equipment according to the
residence (in %). (T 3.20 and T 3.22)
o Frequency of households who have housing problems per residence (in %).
(T3.28)
3. Transport
o Distribution of the households according to their car ownership following their
class of monthly income and their residence (in %). (T 4.1)
4. Health care
o Distribution of the households who have an untreated medical problem by cause
and following the class of income. (T 6.16)
5. Income patterns
o Average annual household income, average per capita income and residence. (T
7.9)
o Distribution of the households according to their appreciation of the level of their
income and to the level of their household monthly income (in %). (T 9.1)
o Distribution of the households according to their financial situation and to their
class of monthly income (in %). (T 9.5)
6. Household budget
o Distribution of average annual expenditures per household, according to the
residence and the kind of expenditures. (T 8.2)
EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IN LEBANON
The mapping of living conditions in Lebanon provides an objective basis to identify the
needs and priorities at the national and community levels.
 Sample profile
25
20
15
10
5
0
Frequency of the residents per mohafazat
(1997)
22.5
20.1
15.1
13.6
11.8
10
6.9
Be
irut
Su
bur
b
Mo
No
So
Na
Be
uth
q
r th
ba
un
t
ieh aa
Leb
Le
s o t Leb
ba
an
fB
non
on
ei r anon
ut
A total of 61,580 household questionnaires were completed and covered 289,257
individuals constituting around 10 % of the resident population. The size of this sample
allows high level of precision in the survey.
 Socio-economic characteristics
Disparities in educational achievement have persisted between urban and rural regions,
with the proportion of illiterates in Beirut standing at 8.7 % in 1997, compared to 14.8 % and
16.7 % in the two mohafazats of Nabatieh and North Lebanon, respectively.
25
20
Male average
Female average
15
10
5
Beqaa
South
Mount
0
Beirut
Illiteracy Rate (%)
Illiteracy (1997)
There is a significant difference between the illiteracy rate of men and women in
Lebanon. It suggests that women have a lower level of education than men. This is due to the
difference that existed with the old generations between the education of girls and boys. One
can see this as an influencing factor in the continuance of submission of women to men
(father or husband).
In many countries, a close correlation can be observed between poverty and
unemployment. Statistics shows that it is the case in Lebanon, a country where wage earners
constitute more than two-thirds of the labor force and where unemployment compensation
benefits do not exist.
In fact, available data is not complete, especially concerning women’s unemployment
rate. An under evaluation of women’s activity (especially in rural areas) is possible since
rural women are under-represented in the information collected. The lack of women’s
participation in active life may be the result of their preference to work at their house.
But it was argued that current unemployment figures (10-12 %) do not reflect the level
of poverty in Lebanon. The notion of "working poor" (1/3 of the population) was considered
a more appropriate indicator of the situation. It reveals a hidden face of poverty : growing
inequalities between low average wages and high living costs in Lebanon.
 Shelter
The overpopulation is measured by the number of persons living in the house compared
to the number of rooms per housing (more than 3 persons in a room or more than 8 persons
in less than 4 rooms). Overpopulation can be seen as temporary and acceptable
overpopulation or as critical overpopulation.
42.4 44.2
50
40
37.2
37.4
30.3
30
33.1 34.6
18.8
20
10
Be
qa
a
Le
ba
no
n
Le
ba
no
or
n
th
Le
ba
So
no
ut
n
h
Le
ba
no
n
N
ab
at
ie
h
N
M
ou
nt
Su
bu
rb
s
of
B
ei
ru
t
0
Be
i ru
t
Overpopulation
Percentage of households living in
overpopulation (1997)
Situations of overpopulation change according to the mohafazats. Thus Mount Lebanon
is the mohafazat where overpopulation rate is the lowest (18.8 %), while in the north and the
south of Lebanon, overpopulation rate is quite high: 42.4 % and 44.2 % respectively.
The degree of comfort is also important to evaluate people’s well-being. This evaluation
is possible for example by studying the relative frequency of households who have housing
equipment, like water utility or central heating.
To compare the mohafazats we balanced these variables with a coefficient (from 1 to 3, 1
is not necessary, 2 is needed and 3 is essential): elevator (1), water from public utility (3),
well (1), central heating (3), generating of electricity (3), sewerage system (3), pits (3), toilet
(3), refrigerator (3), washing machine (2), television (1), video (1), telephone (2), cellular (1).
By aggregating the weighted indicator for each region, it is possible to compare between the
global well-being condition of the different regions.
Suburbs Mount
North
South
Mohafazats Beirut of Beirut Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon Nabatieh
% of wellbeing
63.1
59.8
60.9
50.2
51.9
52.9
Beqaa
Lebanon
51.4
56.2
Beirut obtains the best figure for well-being evaluation reaching 63.1 %. The mohafazats
of North Lebanon, South Lebanon, Nabatieh and Beqaa are approximately at 50 %, meaning
that a household living in one of these last four mohafazats have less chances to be well
equipped then a household living in Beirut.
Since approximately a quarter of the Lebanese houses were destroyed during the war,
housing problems is an important historic issue reflecting levels of poverty . In this study, ,
we chose two variables to assess housing problems: the moisture in the walls and the water
supply.
% of
households
Housing problems
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Beqaa
South
Lebanon
Mount
Lebanon
Beirut
moisture in the walls
water supply
Thus, 42 % of households complain about in-house moisture in Lebanon. The
percentage is the highest in Nabatieh (52.3 %). Many households suffer from the lack of
water. The mohafazat that is the most affected is that of Mount Lebanon with 52.7 % of its
households suffering water shortages.
 Transport
Regarding transport, not surprisingly, statistical results show that households with low
incomes do not own as many cars as households with high incomes. (12.7% of households
whose monthly income do not exceed 300 000 LL own at least one car).
Total of household who owned a car ..
81,3
Beqaa
Mount
Lebanon
53,2 51,4 52,1 58,7 62,4
South
Lebanon
65,2 65,5
Beirut
100
80
60
40
20
0
The mohafazat where the proportion of people owning a car is the highest is that of
Mount Lebanon (with 81.3 % of the households). In North Lebanon, Nabatieh and South
Lebanon, only one household out of two have a car. One can argue that people are more in
need for cars in Mount Lebanon because of the spread of the population all over this area.
 Health care
Household who have medical problem untreated because
of financial problem by class of income in Lebanon (in
1997)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
72.1
66.1
60.2
53.4
48.3
45
24.4
less
than
300
300500
500- 800- 1200- 1600- 2400
800 1200 1600 2400 and +
Class of income (in thousands of LL )
Health care is an integral part of basic needs. 16.6 % of households have a sick person
who requires a treatment that the household cannot assume. One can notice that 72.1 % of the
households who earn less than 300 000 LL and who have an untreated medical problem
cannot treat it for financial reasons. Of course, this percentage decreases when the income
increases. But still, in the highest income class, that of more than 2 400 000 LL, 24.4 % of
the households cannot treat their medical problems for financial reasons.
Household who have medical problem
untreated because of financial problem by
mohafazats in Lebanon (1997)
80
70
60
50
73.5
64.9
51.1
65.3
60.4
56.7
51.5
40
30
20
25.4
Lebanon
Beqaa
Nabatieh
South
Lebanon
North
Lebanon
Mount
Lebanon
Suburbs
of Beirut
Beirut
10
0
Comparing regions, we can underline that the Beqaa is the area where statistics show the
highest part of people suffering financial difficulties in treating medical problems (73.5 % of
the households).
 Income patterns
Average annual
Suburbs
Beirut
household income
of Beirut
Total working
20106 17546
income
4722
3142
Others sources
TOTAL
24828
20688
Mount
North
South
Nabatieh
Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon
Beqaa
Lebanon
19075
12042
11261
10650
12532
15241
4277
2778
2359
2418
2630
3239
23352
14820
13620
13068
15168
18480
The average annual household income in Lebanon amounts to LL 18,480,000 (average
size of household is 4.8 individuals) with significant variations between the mohafazats:
average annual household income reaches as low as LL 13,068,000 in the mohafazat of
Nabatieh and as high as LL 24,828,000 in Beirut.
Appreciation of the level of household income
% of household
37.1
40
32
35
30
25
20
13.8
13.1
15
10
3.7
0.3
5
0
wealthy
satisfactory
just
income
satisfactory
income
hardly
sufficient
income
insufficient unspecified
income
Only 13 % of Lebanese families believe their living standard to be satisfactory. 37.1 % of
households stated that their income was not adequate. Households particularly suffering this
feeling of hardship are those with an average monthly income below 800,000 L.L. We notice
that more than 80 % of households, with an average monthly income less than 800,000 L.L.,
consider their income “hardly sufficient” or “insufficient”. This data is very important and
show us that their purchasing power is indeed low.
Distribution of households following their financial situation
0.2
2.1
Financial situation
unspecified
no income
11
saves
51.5
spend all its income
4.6
spend of its savings
30.6
obliged to be involved in debt
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
The study also shows that the proportion of households obliged to borrow to balance their
budget reaches 30.6 % for Lebanon. More precisely only 3.45 % of the households with an
average monthly income below 1,200,000L.L. can save money. The rest live from day to
day, without any insurance for the future.
 Household budget
food
Distribution of the expenditure in Lebanon
clothings
personal care
5,3 3,5
rent
8,6
energy, water,
telephone…
maintenance and
repairs
durable goods
33,9
13,1
transport
education
8,6
6,2
4,2
5,6
7,3
2,2
health
spare time
1,6
various
Expenditures for food-related items represent the highest share of the family expenditure
basket (34 %), followed by housing (15 %) and education (13 %). Household expenditures’
distribution is quite the same between mohafazats.
Moreover we can note, in terms of average annual expenditure per household, that it is
Beirut that has the highest total amount of expenditures (26,134,000 L.L.), whereas the
mohafazat of Nabatieh displays the lower total amount reaching only 14,205,000 L.L. This
seems predictable since Beirut has the highest average annual income per household.
Household expenditures distribution (1997)
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Le
ba
no
n
a
qa
Be
ab
at
ie
h
n
h
ut
N
Le
ba
no
on
ba
n
Le
So
N
or
th
Le
ba
no
n
M
ou
nt
Su
bu
rb
s
of
Be
iru
Be
iru
t
t
0%
various
spare time
health
education
transport
durable goods
maintenance and repairs
energy, water, telephone…
rent
personal care
clothings
food
POVERTY MAP OF LEBANON
POVERTY
IN
LEBANON
P The UN estimates that third of Lebanese cannot care for their basic needs. But the spread
of poverty varies considerably between regions and sectors. The majority of the poor lives in
the suburbs of the capital and other cities. The destitute poor live in their majority in the rural
areas where they represent one fourth of the population. The rest of the destitute poor are
found in the suburbs of the capital and other cities. Moreover, it is believed that abject
poverty is concentrated in the remote regions of Baalbeck and Hermel in the Bekaa, in Akkar
in North Lebanon and the South of Lebanon.
The Mapping of Living Conditions in Lebanon study adopts a basic classification of
households into five degrees or levels of satisfaction based on the index score for the
satisfaction of basic needs obtained by the household. The classification adopted is as
follows:
1. Very low degree of satisfaction: household score of less than 0.75.
2. Low degree of satisfaction: household score varies between 0.75 and 0.99.
3. Intermediate degree of satisfaction: household score varies between 1 and 1.25.
4. High degree of satisfaction: household score varies between 1.26 and 1.49.
5. Very high degree of satisfaction: household score varies between 1.50 and 2.
Key: proportion, per caza, of households with lowest index of unsatisfied basic needs (the
level of basic needs is a synthesis key finalized by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1996: it
associates data pertaining to income, education, water networks and sanitation).
In addition poverty can be regarded as a generator of unemployment and not only as a
consequence of it. Lack of access to productive resources often prevents the poor from
starting up small or medium income businesses, which currently provide the main scope for
creating employment opportunities, given the saturation in the traditional sectors8.
Indeed, the poor categories find it extremely difficult to gain access to banking or
financial facilities. As for encouraging this, the access to credit is very important. The
banking sector has remained reluctant to adopt a credit policy in favor of small and medium
establishments. So non-governmental organizations, like Al Majmoua, have a very important
role to play in this way.
8
UNDP (United Nation Development Program)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Literature
1. Antoine Haddad, La Pauvreté au Liban (in Arabic), ESCWA, Amman, 1996.
2. Marianne El Khoury, Ugo Panizza, Poverty and Social Mobility in Lebanon: A
Few Wild Guesses. Department of Economics, American University of Beirut,
June 2001.
3. 2001-02 NHDR – Globalization: Towards a Lebanese Agenda.
4. Administration Centrale de la Statistique, Conditions de Vie des Ménages en
1997, Etudes Statistiques, No. 9, Beyrouth, Février 1998 (French/Arabic).
5. Rick Davies (CDS Swansea for the ODI Workshop) "Indicators of Poverty:
Operational Significance", to be held on Wednesday, 8 October 1997 in London.
6. Partenariat EURO-MED, Liban, Documents de Stratégie 2002-2006 &
Programme Indicatif National 2002-2004.
7. Aline Coudouel, Jesko S. Hentschel et Quentin T. Wodon, Mesure et Analyse de
la pauvreté.
8. Norbert Henninger and Mathilde Snel, Where are the Poor? Experiences with the
Development and Use of Poverty Maps.
9. Bjِrn Philipp , Poverty – World Bank and UNDP Concepts, February 1999.
10. Republic of Lebanon, Ministry of Social Affairs and United Nations Development
Programme – UNDP, National Programme for Improving Living Conditions of
the Poor in Lebanon, October 1999.
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1.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
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8.
http://www.bdl.gov.lb
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http://www.adr.org.lb/FR
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http://www.un.org.lb
http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/democrat.htm
http://www.adb.org
http://www.povertymap.net/index.htm