Do demographics matter for African child poverty?

The effect of demographics on poverty measurement based
on per capita consumption is well known. The size and
composition of the household can affect the well-being
of everyone in the household, with respect to total consumption
within that household. Failure to address this
issue may often lead to an underestimation or overestimation
of poverty, especially for children. Many studies have
tried to address the issue, using the generic approach of
equivalence scales. However, the choice of scale is controversial
and may lead to comparability problems between
countries because of the different demographic structures
and choice of the pivot household for establishing the
per capita poverty line. Based on the World Bank’s African
poverty database, this study estimates poverty rates
for African children using the new international poverty
line of $1.90 a day defined in terms of 2011 purchasing
power parity. The equivalence scales approach (Food and
Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization) is
used with the adjustment suggested by Deaton after the
identification of the pivot household, which is defined as
the household whose per capita consumption is around
the international poverty line. This study shows that taking
account of demographics results in downward adjustments
of child poverty, adult poverty, and child-adult poverty gaps.
Moreover, breakdowns by country show that poverty may
vary significantly depending on demographics, which may
cause some reranking when comparing poverty between
African countries. Finally, sensitivity analyses reveal that
child poverty is not sensitive to the child discount factor,
unlike adult poverty, but, overall, taking account of demographics
is helpful for better identifying poor children