DEVELOPING CROSS NATIONAL POVERTY RESEARCH IN THE UK AND ISRAEL

Cross national research on poverty and its measurement is growing more important in the globalised world. Poverty measurement is developing but many theoretical and methodological difficulties remain. Poverty measurement in Israel currently utilises income threshold poverty measures only. There is a need to develop alternative measures to complement the current measures. The Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE) survey of Britain is a prime example of a multi-dimensional survey that also enables one to monitor levels and dynamics of poverty. The visit of Dr Menachem Monnickendam from the School of Social Work at Bar Ilan University, Israel, is aimed to facilitate:

1. the development of comparable cross national poverty measures
2. the development of harmonized research questions that have cross- national relevance
3. the design of a cross-national comparative research agenda
4. collaborative research in the area of anti poverty policy
5. collaborative research on life styles of poor populations and their impact on social functioning.