Beyond Income: Seeing Poverty Through a Broader Lens

As the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals approaches, a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) challenges long-held assumptions about global poverty. World Poverty Through a Broader Lens: Rethinking Measurement and Policy Approaches finds that while extreme poverty has declined, deprivation in broader forms remains pervasive, and the world is far from ending poverty “in all its dimensions.”

Persistent Challenges

According to ESCWA’s analysis, one in four people, or 2.2 billion worldwide, still live in poverty, with nearly 300 million living in destitution, mainly across sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States. Though extreme poverty (under $2.15 a day) has halved since 1995, moderate poverty and vulnerability have grown, leaving half of humanity either poor or at risk.

The report warns that the world is not on track to halve poverty by 2030. Only 37 per cent of people live in countries making sufficient progress, and inequality and conflict continue to stall advances. The Arab region stands out as the only one where poverty has deepened over the past three decades, showing how economic shocks, weak institutions, and environmental stress can reverse gains.

Three Shifts for Inclusive and Sustainable Progress

1. Broader Measurement Beyond Income

Poverty, the report argues, cannot be understood through income alone. ESCWA calls for a multidimensional approach that captures deprivations in health, education, housing, and access to services to better reflect the realities of exclusion. It proposes a four-tier framework (destitution, extreme, moderate, and vulnerability) and urges the United Nations to lead a global multipurpose poverty survey that integrates both income and non-income data. Such tools would improve policymaking and ensure that poverty reduction strategies are inclusive of the most marginalized.

2. Inclusive Growth and Social Investment

Economic growth remains the strongest driver of poverty reduction, particularly in low-income countries, but its benefits are not equally shared. ESCWA highlights the importance of “growth passthrough”, the extent to which national growth reaches households. Countries that paired economic expansion with investments in education, health, and social protection achieved the largest reductions. The report calls for growth strategies that prioritize job creation, equitable access to services, and empowerment of women and youth, ensuring that development translates into real improvements in well-being.

3. Renewed Solidarity and Governance Reform

Ending poverty requires both domestic reforms and global cooperation. Nationally, the report urges progressive taxation, better fiscal management, and stronger institutions to finance social programmes. Internationally, it calls for debt relief, concessional financing, and peacebuilding in countries most severely off track. Strengthened global solidarity, backed by fairer wealth distribution, can unlock the resources needed for sustainable progress.

Toward a More Inclusive Future

ESCWA’s message is clear: poverty is multidimensional, systemic, and solvable if tackled through inclusion, equity, and solidarity. Investing in human development, reducing inequality, and embracing a more holistic understanding of well-being are not only moral imperatives but also smart economic choices. As the world looks beyond 2030, measuring and addressing poverty through a broader lens may be the key to building societies where opportunity and dignity truly reach all.

Read the full report by ESCWA here.