Abstract
Despite of poverty and extreme poverty estimations having decreased during the period 2006–2016 in Peru, from 49.1 to 20.7% and from 16.1 to 3.8%, respectively, the poor population still represents a latent concern for policy makers. Essentially, the main reason lies on the multidimensional problems of quality of life. Then, a research question yet unaddressed rises: Is it possible to find very poor people who feel happy? If so, what controls this relationship? The first main contribution of this study is the application of modern measurement theory to measure happiness. The short Oxford Happiness Questionnaire jointly with an ad hoc Multidimensional Poverty Index-MPI (8 items) were applied to a random sample of 537 household heads who live in the five poorest districts in Peru. Item response theory analysis was conducted to measure happiness scores. Findings reveal happiness scores and the MPI are negatively associated in the very poor Peru. Friendship, religiosity, and some relevant non-material characteristics of a family are the most important covariates of the relationship between these variables. In fact, the second contribution of this study represents the inclusion of variables associated to the quantity and quality of friendship as relevant controllers of happiness and poverty.
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*The difference between these two groups is statistically significant at \(\alpha = 0.05\)
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Notes
This study belongs to a large project named “The determinants of happiness in two Perus: 2017" funded by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at Universidad del Pacifico (Lima, Peru). Its main aim was to compare the level of happiness between the very poor and the very rich population of Peru (two strata). This study only focused on the five poorest districts, the very poor stratum. All derived inferences only pertain to this group.
Technically, due to many dwellings in the rural area of Peru are abandoned, the number of dwellings is in fact, the number of households. In this way, overestimation of sample size is avoided.
The eight indicators used to measure the multidimensional poverty index were calculated as follows:
(1) BMI: Three thresholds provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) depending on age groups were used. (2) Years of education: Privation exists if a household member aged 12 years old or older, has reached the level of incomplete primary education. If all household members are deprived, then household is deprived. (3) Childhood education: Any child aged 11 years old or younger is deprived if his current educational attainment does not fulfill the expected level of education according to his schooling age. (4) Electricity: Privation exists if the household has no electricity. (5) Drinking Water: Privation exists if the household does not have access to drinking water or the source is located more than 30 min on feet. (6) Sanitation: Privation exists if the household’s sanitation facility is not improved, in other words, there are not protected pit latrines to flush toilets with a sewerage connection. (7) Floor: Privation exists if the household has a dirt, sand, or dung floor. (8) Cooking fuel: Privation exists if the household cooks with dung, wood, or charcoal very frequently. The last eight indicators report a missing value if the head of household did not respond to the related questions. After calculating all these indicators and their specific relative weights (they slightly changed in contrast to the original version), a person is identified as multidimensionally poor if he/she is deprived in at least one third of the weighted MPI indicators. In other words, his/her reported index is equal to or higher than 1/3.
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Waldinger, Robert. J.: The Study of Adult Development. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/.
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Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful for comments and advice from Enver Tarazona, Juan Francisco Castro, Cynthia Sanborn, and Edward B. Applegate. We recognize the valuable contributions and support provided by María-José Quiñones, Mario Lituma, and Joaquín Armas.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article: Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at Universidad del Pacífico (Lima, Peru) (Grant # 16-135).
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Appendix: Module 600: happiness
Appendix: Module 600: happiness
Never? | Slightly? | Enough? | Very much? | Does not know/does not answer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
601. | Are you happy with the way you are? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
602. | Do you care for people being well? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
603. | Do you feel that life rewards you? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
604. | Are you kind/attentive to others? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
605. | Do you wake up wanting to live? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
606. | Do you feel that good things are going to happen later? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
607. | Are you bored with many things? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
608. | Do you always participate in activities for others? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
609. | Do you believe or believe that life is good? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
610. | Do you think that the world is a good place to live? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
611. | Do you laugh a lot? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
612. | With everything you’ve done in your life, are you happy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
613. | Do you think of yourself as pretty? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
614. | Do you do what you like to do? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
615. | Are you very happy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
616. | Do you find that some things are pretty? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
617. | Do you always make others happy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
618. | Do you think you adapt easily to anything you want to do? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
619. | Do you feel that you are managing your life? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
620. | Do you feel you can start new things? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
621. | Are you aware of what is happening around you? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
622. | Are you almost always happy and happy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
623. | Can you make decisions quickly? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
624. | Do you know why you came to the world? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
625. | Do you feel that you have a lot of energy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
626. | When you help in an event, does it almost always go well? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
627. | Do you like other people’s company? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
628. | Do you feel healthy? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
629. | Do you have many beautiful memories of the past? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
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Mateu, P., Vásquez, E., Zúñiga, J. et al. Happiness and poverty in the very poor Peru: measurement improvements and a consistent relationship. Qual Quant 54, 1075–1094 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-00974-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-00974-y