Implementing a Group-Specific Multidimensional Poverty Measure: The Case of Persons with Disabilities in Peru

We contribute to the literature on multidimensional poverty and people with disabilities by developing a group-specific, comprehensive, and policy-relevant measure of multidimensional poverty adapted to exploring deprivations within the group of persons with disabilities in Peru. Based on the Alkire-Foster method, we calculated multidimensional poverty estimates using data from the first Specialised National Survey on Disability in Peru collected in 2012. Our measure included eight dimensions, four of which were operationalised using disability-specific indicators, of which, in turn, three involved deprivation criteria specific to different categories of disability. Our results showed that 41.1% of the population with disabilities in Peru suffer deprivations in at least three out of the eight dimensions, whereas rural populations, women, indigenous peoples, persons with severe disabilities, and persons with communication disabilities face the highest levels of poverty. Additionally, we identified rural indigenous women as the poorest subgroup within the overall group of persons with disabilities in Peru with a poverty incidence of 88.1%. Our results suggested that eradicating multidimensional poverty among persons with disabilities in Peru will involve implementing reasonable accommodations to existing policies and creating new disability-specific policies focused on the poorest subgroups within this population.