Assessing Refugee Poverty Using Capabilities Versus Commodities: The Case of Afghans in Iran

Abstract

This study is among the first to calculate poverty among one of the world’s largest refugee populations, Afghans in Iran. More importantly, it is one of the first to use capability and monetary approaches to provide a comprehensive perspective on Afghan refugees’ poverty. We estimated poverty using data collected from a sample of 2,034 refugee households in 2011 in Iran. We utilized basic needs poverty lines and the World Bank’s absolute international poverty line for our monetary poverty analyses and the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for our capability analyses of poverty. Findings show that nearly half of the Afghan households were income-poor, approximately two percent of the households had less than USD 1.25 per person per day, and about 28% of the surveyed households were multidimensionally deprived. Results suggest that 60% of the income-poor households were not deprived from minimal education, health, and standards of living based on the MPI criteria, and about 32% of the multidimensionally deprived households were not income-poor. These findings call for more attention to poverty measurement methods, specifically for social workers and policy makers in the field, to gain a more realistic understanding about refugees’ wellbeing.

Impact of a Brief Family Skills Training Programme (“Strong Families”) on Parenting Skills, Child Psychosocial Functioning, and Resilience in Iran: A Multisite Controlled Trial

“…Reports suggest that over 80% of Afghans in Iran have access to a durable, sheltered living space with minimum standards of living [ 42 ]. Where a study of livelihood of Afghan refugees in Iran had found half of the households to have only poor income; of those, only 60% were not deprived from minimal education, health, and standards of living, based on the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) that is used for capability analyses of poverty criteria [ 43 ].…”

Education of Afghan refugee children in Iran: A structured review of policies

“…Despite recent improvements, the added tuition fees as part of the code of conduct for the education of Afghans continue to limit access for many Afghan children to Iranian schools. A significant number of Afghan households in Iran live in poverty (Naseh, Potocky, Burke, & Stuart, 2018). The decline in Iran's economy and the COVID-19 pandemic has further limited the financial ability of Afghan households and consequently the access of Afghan children to education in Iran.…”

“…National context in place to encourage and occasionally force repatriation of Afghans (Naseh, Potocky, Burke, & Stuart, 2018). During these years almost all self-governed Afghan schools were closed down by the government with the justification that these schools are providing low-quality education in unsafe settings (Herve, 2018).…”

“…Although many restrictions for Afghan children access to education in Iran have been lifted in recent years, tuition fees are still a significant impediment. Considering the high rates of income poverty among Afghans (Naseh, Potocky, Burke, & Stuart, 2018), many Afghan families cannot afford tuition fees or costs associated with schooling for their children. Many are forced to send their children to work to contribute to family livelihood rather than shouldering the cost of education.…”

“…In 1996, the Taliban assumed control and power over most parts of Afghanistan, which created further conflicts in the country (Qadeem, 2005). Between 2001 and 2014, the United States‐led war created more instability in the country (Naseh, Potocky, Burke, & Stuart, 2018; Simpson et al, 2017). In May 2021, the Taliban surged back to power, and forced displacement of Afghans increased once again.…”