Projects

The goal of the project Poverty Line: Regional Dimensions of Absolute Poverty Definition, which involves Prague University of Economics and Business in collaboration with the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University, is to establish the absolute poverty line in the Czech Republic and identify key population groups at risk of absolute poverty, including factors that increase poverty risk. The project was supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic.

While the commonly used approach to poverty determination is based on income inequalities (relative poverty), we focus within this project on identifying living needs and financial costs required to meet them, thus defining absolute poverty. We investigate what types of material and social goods society considers essential and to what extent they should be available to everyone. We attempt to achieve a convergence of opinions from the public (secondary analysis of available data, our own survey research), experts (ongoing expert panel discussions), and affected groups (qualitative research based on individual interviews, ethnographic research, focus groups). Specific attention is paid to the regional dimension of both poverty and living costs.

The resulting certified methodology will propose, based on these outputs, a method for calculating standard household budgets. The methodology will subsequently be available to both public administration (the project’s application guarantor is the Agency for Social Inclusion) and the broader professional community.