Exploring Multidimensional Pov

Social and Economic Studies 69:3&4 (2020): 177-224 ISSN 0037-7651
Exploring Multidimensional Poverty with

Rural Women in Jamaica
SIDDIER CHAMBERS
Abstract: Jamaica, an upper-middle-income country, is characterised by high

poverty rates, with rural residents, particularly women, being the most impoverished.
Despite acknowledgment of various vulnerabilities and deprivations inhibiting de-
velopment, poverty is narrowly examined as consumption. This unidimensional per-
spective leaves a critical gap in the poverty debate in Jamaica. This paper has
contributed to filling this gap. The author reviews consumption poverty, critical analy-
ses changes in the poverty literature and then proposes multidimensional poverty as
a broader informational base. This is to support evidence-based policy and a more
nuanced conceptualisation and evaluation of poverty. Framed by Amartya Sen’s
capability approach and situated in the context of women’s development, the study
explored the experiences of 84 women from six rural communities in Jamaica.
Analysis of qualitative data, collected through interviews, focus groups and obser-
vation, provides evidence of the economic, social, psychological and physical dimen-
sions of poverty that permeate the women’s lives. Interconnections between poverty
dimensions offer insight into the nature of chronic poverty in rural Jamaica. The
conclusion includes policy implications and suggestions for future research.
Keywords: Consumption Poverty, Multidimensional Poverty, rural

Women, Capability approach, Jamaica
Poverty is a complex phenomenon that is exacerbated by vulnerability

and inequality for people in small island developing states (siDs). Daily,
between seven to eight million adults and children in the Caribbean are
hungry and malnourished; some of them are out-of-school children
and illiterate adults who live in dilapidated houses with poor sanitation,
no electricity and insufficient assets to sustain a basic standard of living
(unDP and oPhi 2019; CDb 2016). annually, hurricanes, tropical
storms and multiple floods add to the complexities of their subsistence
living. some of these devastations overlap as the countries of the re-
gion struggle to recover due in part to their small size, proneness to
natural disasters and limited natural resources (oeCD 2018; Thomp-
son 2015; briguglio 1995).
These geographical vulnerabilities and threats have triggered cli-
mate change adaptation and mitigation challenges, as well as economic
and infrastructural losses (Dunn 2013; Trotz and lindo 2013; unDP
2013). Yet, they are only one layer of Caribbean reality that impacts
178 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
the population’s quality of life. other layers include social and eco-
nomic inequalities. a disproportionately large number of poor female-
headed households, under-served inner-city communities, rural
communities with inadequate infrastructure (CDb 2016; Momsen
2010), and high unemployment rates are manifestations of inequality
in the Caribbean (Cord et al. 2015).
Dynamic interactions occur between these layers of vulnerability
and inequality. individually, they appear to be exogenous because the
environmental threats are not pre-conditions of poverty and history
shows that social exclusion and discrimination in the region are not re-
sponsive to poverty reduction solutions (CDb 2016). nevertheless,
their interconnections impact the ability of the poor to improve their
well-being. regionally, the dynamic interactions between poverty, vul-
nerability and inequality remain central to the nature of poverty and
deserve a closer examination. even with this complex nature of
poverty, a narrow monetary estimate of household income and con-
sumption continues to dominate the poverty debate and policy re-
sponse in the Caribbean (atkinson et al. 2019; Vakis et al. 2016; World
bank 2015b). This paper argues that while the consumption poverty
approach contributes to a macro level representation of poverty, it neg-
lects critical policy-making elements and is inflexible to the dynamic
nature of poverty experienced by the Caribbean people.
Jamaica is an upper-middle-income siDs country with an overall
high level of human development (unDP 2019), yet, poverty remains
a debilitating feature of national development. since 1990 the preva-
lence of poverty has mainly been double digits, with national poverty
as high as 44.6% in 1991 (figure 1; PioJ and sTaTin 1990-2015).
Conceptually, poverty in Jamaica is consumption below a minimum
caloric or food intake and measured by an estimate of expenditure for
a selected list of food and non-food items (PioJ 2018b; henry-lee
2001). Jamaica survey of living Conditions (JslC) applied this con-
sumption approach and identified women, children in female-headed
households, youth and the elderly as the most impoverished, many of
whom were rural residents (PioJ 2018a; Tennant 2018). This macro
scan based on the consumption approach reveals that poverty impacts
a broad cross-section of the population, especially vulnerable groups
with intersecting factors such as age, gender and location.
To its credit, the consumption approach also shows poverty as a
persistent feature of national concern, with varying intensities across
parishes and urban and rural regions. over the past two decades,
poverty in rural areas has consistently been twice that of urban poverty
(figure 2; PioJ and sTaTin 1990-2015). according to the Planning
figure 1: Prevalence of Poverty in Jamaica by region (1990-2015)
source: PioJ and sTaTin 1990-2015
EXPLORING MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY
179
figure 2: Comparison of Prevalence of Poverty across rural and urban regions in Jamaica
180
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
source: PioJ and sTaTin 1990-2015

Kingston Metropolitan area (KMa)
EXPLORING MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY 181
institute of Jamaica (PioJ) and the statistical institute of Jamaica

(sTaTin), citizens in rural communities experienced severe and mul-
tiple forms of poverty relative to those of the urban population (PioJ
and sTaTin 2012). The rural population faces a higher incidence of
economic poverty, lower levels of educational attainment, more sub-
stantial health challenges, more impoverished housing conditions, and
a smaller proportion of households with reliable access to clean water
(PioJ 2018a; PioJ and sTaTin 2012). a more significant proportion
of poor female-headed households are in rural communities, with
higher rates of dependent children and the elderly (PioJ 2018a; PioJ
and sTaTin 2012). This evidence of long period and multiplicity of
deprivations indicate chronic poverty as a defining feature of rural
communities. Yet, it would be short-sighted to assess the nature of
rural poverty without understanding the impact of inherent vulnera-
bilities.
limited infrastructure and facilities, environmental vulnerabilities
and other social challenges sustain chronic poverty in rural Jamaica.
Crime and violence in Jamaica are pervasive and remain long-term
threats to the safety and security of persons and properties and the vi-
ability of urban and rural economies (henry-lee 2001; unDP 2013;
harriot 2000; Moser and holland 1997). inability to access essential
social services (levy and ohls 2010), lack of and underdeveloped eco-
nomic infrastructure and institutions (iiCa 2010), limited institutional
coordination for poverty reduction initiatives (osei 2002), poor envi-
ronmental practices, high susceptibility to climate change as well as high
levels of vulnerability to natural hazards (Chambers et al. 2013; Dunn
2013; Trotz and lindo 2013; unDP 2013) are some of the structural
and environmental vulnerabilities influencing chronic rural poverty.
The action and inaction of the government is another determinant
of the nature of poverty. Monetary contribution of the government
towards poverty reduction has been significant, with an estimated an-
nual allocation of Ja$24 billion (PioJ 2018b). Despite the implemen-
tation of over 30 poverty reduction strategies island-wide, they did not
reach about 50% of the poor, due in part to targeting and service de-
livery challenges (blake and Gibbison 2015; levy and ohls 2010; osei
2002).2 furthermore, lack of consideration in policy-making about the
1 Chronic poverty arises from low long-term (two or more consecutive periods) wel-
fare, (Jalan and ravallion 1998).
2 Major government projects, programs and interventions that targeted poverty re-
duction and received budgetary allocation during the fY 2015/2016 included: Pro-
gramme of advancement through health and education (PaTh), rehabilitation
actual conditions of the poor puts them at a greater disadvantage, as

highlighted in the policy responses to the global pandemic of the coro-
navirus disease 2019 (CoViD-19).3 for example, social/physical dis-
tancing as a preventative measure is almost impractical for poor
residents living in inadequate housing conditions in which multiple fam-
ilies share a bathroom with inadequate water (robinson 2020). how
do students, especially in rural areas, without internet and electricity
participate in online classes? Their reality is, they do not participate and
continue to lose months and possibly years of schooling as long as the
pandemic and related challenges persist. even as the Jamaican Gov-
ernment seeks to stop the spread of CoViD-19 and unveiled several
social and economic policy responses (Jis 2020), citizens still have a
great sense of fear and uncertainty, especially the poor.4 These feelings
are valid, considering that the full impact of this global pandemic will
Grant Programme, Grants for Golden age homes, Poor relief Programme, sexual
and reproductive health services, Grants for agricultural extension services,
school feeding Programme, Career advancement Programme, Jamaica foundation
for lifelong learning, Citizen security and Justice Programme, rural economic
Development initiative, Poverty reduction Programme, Grant to students loan
bureau, among others national Poverty reduction Programme (PioJ 2018b).
3 Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging
from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle east respiratory
syndrome (Mers) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars). since the first
Coronavirus cases were reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, as on 18
april 2020, globally, there were 2,300,874 confirmed cases, 158,422 deaths and
589,576 recovered cases of CoViD 19, with the most affected countries being us,
China, italy, iran, spain and Germany (Johns hopkins university and Medicine
2020). in Jamaica there were 163 confirmed cases, 5 deaths and 25 people who re-
covered. (Jamaica information service (Jis)).
4 according to the Jis, as of 26 March 2020, Jamaica activated a Ja$25 billion fiscal
stimulus, comprising $15 billion to support individuals and businesses and $10 bil-
lion for CoViD-19 contingency provision. CoViD-19 allocation of resources
for employees (Care) programme was instituted by the Government to assist
workers and businesses during the emergency period. additional flexible policy re-
sponses include: public announcements to boost immune system; emergency
order 1: to safeguard the health of senior citizens — citizens 75 and over are to
stay at home for 14 days and those 65 and over who are employed are to work from
home; emergency order 2: to restricts public gatherings of more than 20 people
and closure of various small businesses (bars, restaurants, sporting events, among
others until 23 april; all educational institutions remain closed for 14 days from
March 13 until april 19; emergency order 3: all airports closed to incoming pas-
sengers. see further details at https://jis.gov.jm/jamaica-and-the-coronavirus/
be known only in the long-term with vulnerable populations, such as

the poor, paying the highest toll (iDb 2020; World bank 2020).
responses of the poor to their condition also influence the nature
of poverty. in their efforts to survive the multitude of deprivation and
vulnerabilities, most poor Jamaicans develop strategies that value in-
dependence and restrict access to socio-economic opportunities (iiCa
2010; benfield 2008; oDn 2001; edwards 1980). for low-income
mothers, their productive role represents a pathway out of poverty and
a pillar of self-actualisation, identity and power (stewart 2014; leslie
et al. 2001; oDn 2001; Mason 1985). although their productive role
conflicts with their reproductive responsibilities, poor women ‘juggle’
both roles since they are often the primary breadwinners for their fam-
ilies (stewart 2014; Mason 1985). being a mother is a burden for some
women (oDn 2001). While for others, this status is instrumentally
valuable in providing control over one’s life goals and intrinsically
boosts self-esteem, because as noted by Mason (1985, 263), in Jamaica,
“a good child is a job done well.” Choices about motherhood, job se-
lection and personal independence are some of the ‘hard choices’ that
poor women in Jamaica negotiate daily. life choices shape the nature
of the poverty that confronts them and their children. a decision to
choose one over the other strongly determines whether they and their
family remain in or move out of poverty (PioJ 2018b; World bank
2015a).
understanding and responding to the nature of poverty requires
dissecting individuals’ psycho-social heterogeneity and the pre-existing
vulnerabilities of their surroundings that heighten the complexities of
their personal choices and context. The evidence above reveals that
the nature of poverty includes broader concerns other than income
and food. Despite the acknowledged social, economic, psychological,
structural and environmental forms of vulnerability influencing the
nature of poverty, it is still narrowly defined and measured by the mon-
etary value of consumption (PioJ and sTaTin 2012; benfield 2010).
This unidimensional evaluation of people’s well-being leaves a critical
gap in Jamaica’s poverty literature and policy responses.
The main objective of this article is to propose multidimensional
poverty as a complementary approach to consumption poverty to rep-
resent better the complexity of poverty and vulnerabilities that con-
tinue to thwart the well-being of many Jamaicans. This study focuses
on rural women because they are among the poorest in Jamaica (PioJ
2018b). The ensuing discussion evaluates the consumption poverty
discourse and outlines its strengths and limitations. a summary of mul-
tidimensional poverty follows in section 3. section 4 provides justifi-
cations for the capability approach as the theoretical framework that

guided the identification of multidimensional poverty among a sample
of rural women. The paper then presents primary data analysis on mul-
tidimensional poverty in section 5 and concludes with some policy im-
plications and areas for further research.
ConsuMPTion PoVerTY: sTrenGThs anD

liMiTaTions
Consumption poverty is a global measure of living standards for most
countries. Consumption refers to “the use of resources, whether ac-
quired through purchase (expenditure) or household production or
provided from outside the household, such as by relatives, charities, or
the government” (atkinson et al. 2019, 58). Countries calculate a mon-
etary estimate for a bundle of food and non-food items believed to be
the requirement for a minimum living standard, then set it as the con-
sumption poverty line (PioJ 2012; Pendakur 2001). individuals and or
households are identified as poor if their consumption or income falls
below the consumption poverty line (hurd and rohwedder 2006).
for the last century, the consumption poverty line has been the
central measurement of identifying the poor, and several studies have
established some of its benefits. for example, Meyer and sullivan
(2012) argued that consumption-based measurement provides data on
the overall magnitude and location of the poor. This data informs work
on the status of global poverty and justifies interventions for some of
the poorest countries (World bank 2018). additionally, Meyer and sul-
livan (2012) and Pendakur (2001) agreed that consumption is a more
robust indicator of economic deprivation than income since it generally
captures wealth, savings, borrowing, and in-kind resources that are ex-
ternal to income. atkinson et al. (2019) acknowledged a conceptual
strength in that the consumption measurement captures the achieved
living standard of households, a tangible outcome and evidence of in-
vestment in human capital, unlike income, which he referred to as an
imperfect proxy. essentially, the consumption measure of poverty pro-
vides an abstract, a sketch portrait of the magnitude of poverty at the
macro-level, including global and national levels and is most effective
in conducting aggregated comparisons of national poverty. even a
poverty sketch at the regional level that identifies some of the most
disadvantaged groups, as mentioned earlier in the case of Jamaica with
the JslC, is inadequate for policy-making.
several factors influence policy-making, including objective and
subjective elements (simmons 2015), but the growing consensus is that
effective policy-making requires contextual evidence of the problem
(Cin et al. 2020; hudson et al. 2019; strehlenert et al. 2015). Concep-
tually and operationally, the consumption methodology used in Jamaica
has not produced such depth of information. several authors have
found that the consumption measure of poverty hides context-specific
indicators; it obscures the structure of poverty and makes unequal
household distributions invisible. The following discussion expounds
on these three conceptual and operational limitations of consumption
poverty.
first, the consumption measure of poverty generally does not re-
veal the indicators that contribute to the rise or fall in poverty (atkinson
et al. 2019; hurd & rohwedder 2006; Pendakur 2001). a prominent
viewpoint in this debate has emphasised the merits of the poor know-
ing the drivers of their poverty because it empowers them to have
greater control over their quality of life and reduces their dependence
on the state (austin 2015; robeyns 2003b; st. hill 2003). furthermore,
apart from making the poor invisible in deliberations that impact their
well-being (sen 1999), the consumption measure, rooted in reduction-
ism, produces data on the most basic indicators—food and money –
which are ‘incomplete proxies’ of their poverty. it is well-known that
these indicators cannot reveal the role of social capital and other in-
tangible indicators that are valuable to the poor (atkinson et al. 2019;
Gordon et al. 2000). Therefore, policy-makers need to be cautious in
their application of recommendations informed by consumption
poverty data because they are a partial representation of the reality and
priorities of the targeted population.
second, liverpool-Tasie and Winter-nelson (2011) pointed out
that the nature of poverty, whether it is transient5 or chronic6, is ob-
scured in the consumption measure of poverty. lack of differentiation
of the types of poverty structure has considerable policy implications.
for example, Jalan and ravallion (1998) recommended different policy
instruments for transient and chronic poverty, noting that the policy
response for chronic poverty may result in less than desirable outcomes
for the transient poor. This recommendation was made after findings
revealed household size, level of education, food security and access
to education and health services as robust determinants of chronic
poverty in rural China. however, they were weak indicators of transient
poverty.
5 Transient poverty is viewed as poverty observed at a fixed time that is temporary

due to a short-lived drop in individual levels of living (Jalan & ravallion 1998).
6 Chronic poverty arises from low long-term welfare (Jalan & ravallion 1998).
on the other hand, Medvedev et al. (2013) assessed poverty reduction

in Jamaica and recommended policy responses without distinguishing
the poverty types to be addressed. how effective are policy responses
without clearly defined poverty targets? ultimately, policy-makers need
to distinguish the impact of interventions on the different segments
of a population, whether the chronic or transient poor. Consumption
poverty data cannot produce such variation; hence, it is inadequate to
represent the dynamic nature of poverty or recommend pathways out
of poverty.
Thirdly, atkinson et al. (2019) and Jenkins (1991) lamented a fun-
damental shortcoming—the unequal distribution of consumption and
resources within households is invisible in the consumption measure
of poverty. in other words, if a woman experiences severe hunger every
day, the aggregate measure of household consumption is incapable of
identifying such deprivation. unequal distribution of resources is one
of the most significant structural barriers perpetuating gender inequal-
ity and female subordination within and across most societies (unDP
2019; Öneş et al. 2013; sen 1990; Moser 1989). This gendered reality
of resource misallocation underpins Jenkins’ (1991, 457) stance that
“mainstream poverty analysis is deficient because it ignores important
within-household aspects.” some of those aspects include the relative
share of income for personal expenses, household consumption and
time usage at home between women and men, which have revealed
gender inequality within the household (Walker et al. 2014; Öneş et al.
2013).
Misallocation of non-material resources within the household is
also outside the scope of normative consumption methodology. Power
relation within the household is one of the non-material resources that,
when unequally distributed, contributes to intimate partner violence,
domestic and family violence, resulting in social isolation, economic in-
security and ill-health that disproportionately diminish the well-being
of women (lacey et al. 2019; haselschwerdt et al. 2019; Gibbons 2015;
Moore 2003). additionally, institutionalised negative stereotypes, norms
and practices based on gender, age, class and ethnicity, within the pri-
vate and public spheres restrict the social and personal identity and eco-
nomic opportunities for all genders (ahmed and sen 2018;
Watson-Williams 2018; sutton and alvarez 2016; Kosciw et al. 2015).
furthermore, long-standing concerns about the invisibility of women
and their gendered realities in development processes remain unre-
solved. for instance, henry-lee (2001, 224) observed that the con-
sumption methodology is gender-blind because the consumption of
all household members, regardless of age and sex, is an estimate of the
NEOLIBERALISM AND THE ‘HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA’ IN JAMAICA: 187
male adult. The methodology makes no adjustments for the increased

consumption of women during pregnancy and lactation (hackett et al.
2015; leslie et al. 2001). how does methodology account for consump-
tion impact on social conditions such as the growing trend of a high
percentage of female-headed households in Jamaica?7 The dual respon-
sibilities of being caregiver and breadwinner faced by women in fe-
male-headed households significantly curtail their ability to adequately
meet their family’s consumption needs (bradshaw et al. 2019; Chant
2014; Mason 1985).
Consumption poverty ignores these essential aspects of the intra-
household operation and their effect on well-being. in impoverished
households, some parents sacrifice aspects of their consumption to
sustain the well-being of their children (Caputo et al. 2016), while oth-
ers neglect their children (Van der Kooij et al. 2015; hanson et al. 2013).
scholars and policy-makers now require intra-household information
to formulate effective policy response. Jenkins (1991) and atkinson et
al. (2019) proposed using multiple dimensions as a possible alternative
to address the lack of information in the poverty evaluation discourse.
MulTiDiMensional PoVerTY
The preceding discussion has established justifications for a broader
informational base within which to evaluate poverty and this paper pro-
poses multidimensional poverty as an option. a multidimensional ap-
proach to poverty is becoming standard practice. it brings greater clarity
to the poverty profile of individuals, groups and countries. it has also
expanded the analytical strategies beyond aggregation, which is the tra-
ditional analysis used in consumption poverty. identification and de-
composition are analytical strategies used in multidimensional
approaches to develop poverty profile with explicit multiple dimensions
and facilitate comparison at the local and individual levels (Chen et al.
2019; alkire et al. 2017). identification is about shining a spotlight on
poor individuals to make visible their diverse personal and household
environment (Chattier 2012; ravallion 2011; foster 2007). Decompo-
sition is the process of breaking down the general poverty, if that data
is available, into primary elements such as community, age group and
individual for a more nuanced understanding of the characteristics of
poverty (Chen et al. 2019; foster 2007). Decomposition can illuminate
7 in 2016 almost half of all households or 47% were headed by females, a two-per-
centage increase from 45% in 2014 (PioJ and sTaTin 2016, 2014).
the nature of poverty at the local level and highlight the enabling and
disabling factors of poverty (unDP and oPhi 2019). The current
poverty data in Jamaica can facilitate neither decomposition nor iden-
tification because only one dimension is collected, consumption. al-
though it is at the individual level, poverty’s conceptualisation is narrow
and does not lend itself to nuanced analysis (PioJ 2018b; henry-lee
2001).
Multidimensional poverty is an approach to human development
that helps uncover the structure and nature of poverty (unDP and
oPhi 2019). Countries have benefited from applying a multidimen-
sional poverty approach. some added more evidence-based informa-
tion about their population to support targeted policy responses,
notably, countries with available data on several elements of poverty
(Chen et al. 2019; ntsalaze and ikhide 2018). identification of the poor
based on contextual dimensions and indicators is a practical first step
(alkire et al. 2017; alkire 2007; sen 1999) for countries like Jamaica
that have not yet begun applying the multidimensional poverty ap-
proach. still, arbitrary selection of dimension and indicators is a sig-
nificant concern (alkire et al. 2017; alkire 2007; sen 1999).
one strategy of addressing arbitrary selection is to collect primary
data from the target population to identify relevant dimensions and in-
dicators of multidimensional poverty. for example, Chattier (2012) op-
erationalised the capability approach (Ca) and explored social and
economic poverty among a sample of rural women in fiji. Chattier
(2012) found that men’s greater control over household resources, nar-
row gender norms and practices within family and community were
enabling factors of poverty for rural women, which were outside the
scope of national poverty evaluation in fiji. application of a similar
strategy could be beneficial in the Jamaican context because the coun-
tries share a similar gap in poverty data.
application of the multidimensional approach has revealed con-
text-specific dimensions and indicators and shed light on the nature of
poverty at the individual and household levels, thereby overcoming
some of the major limitations of the consumption measure of poverty.
some authors employed nationally recognised data, while others col-
lected primary data to overcome the limitation of arbitrary selection
of dimensions. Currently, Jamaica does not systematically collect or as-
sess multidimensional poverty. This study is a contribution to filling
that gap. The following section discusses the capability approach as the
theoretical perspective to support the definition and identification of
multidimensional poverty in Jamaica.
TheoreTiCal fraMeWorK: aDVanCinG GenDer anD

DeVeloPMenT ThrouGh The CaPabiliTY aPProaCh
Capability Approach
over the past two decades, the capability approach (Ca) has been the
most influential theoretical perspective in human development dis-
course (unDP 2020; robeyns 2016a; nussbaum 2011; sen 1999). one
of the advantages of the Ca is its broad definition of poverty, under-
pinned by philosophical principles of welfare economics and social jus-
tice (robeyns 2016b, nussbaum 2003; sen 2007, 1979). it facilitates
the identification and evaluation of multiple dimensions of poverty at
the individual level. Within the Ca, poverty is ‘the lack of or failure to
achieve a minimal combination of basic capabilities’ (sen 1993, 41).
Premised on the idea that poverty is not the outcome of a single dep-
rivation, it stands in direct contrast to the traditional poverty line meas-
urement. This concept of poverty is inherently multidimensional.
however, the strength of the framework emanates from its paradigm
shift away from means in the form of tangible resources, to include in-
tangible ends, such as freedom of choice and the absence of con-
straints and invisible barriers (robeyns 2016a, 2016b; sen 1985, 1999).
Conceptually and operationally, functioning, capability and freedom
are three central concepts of the Ca relevant to this study. function-
ings, also viewed as achievements, refer to the various things individuals
“manage to do or be in leading a life” (sen 1993, 31). being able to
work is a functioning and an achievement in itself for a poor woman,
not only because it provides her with an income (means) but also be-
cause it boosts her self-esteem as she hones her skills and creativity
(ends). Capability is an alternative set of things that she can achieve; a
range of possible choices, reasoned to be valuable and, if achieved,
may provide the individual with a higher level of well-being than that
afforded by some other functionings (sen 2007).
one valuable alternative for the poor woman mentioned above
may include travelling to the city to improve her education and expand
her creativity. being the owner of a retail shop could be another valu-
able option. however, it might result in a lower income and require
fewer skills but allow her to be close to home in her rural community,
where her flexible work time would allow her to care for her sick father.
What will she choose? Capability also encompasses the person’s free-
dom to choose between real opportunities (sen 2007). although the
woman has capability freedom (free to choose both capabilities), if she
chooses the second option because caring for her sick father is more
valuable, she might experience diminished well-being freedom (fewer
means to secure her well-being). supporting her to enjoy both capability
and well-being freedoms would not necessarily be done by increasing
her income at the shop. however, that might be useful, but rather by
ensuring her secure and stable access to the internet to do her studies
online. Promoting her capability freedom would require, at a minimum,
access to electricity, high-quality internet in her rural community and
effective allocation of her time between work, study and caregiving. so
being poor is influenced by factors that either diminish or advance free-
dom and well-being and are more complex than not being able to eat
and lack of income (austin 2015; World bank 2015a; nussbaum 2003).
lack of freedom to associate with relatives and community mem-
bers is a form of deprivation, even for the rich and well-fed. The ab-
sence of commercial facilities, utilities and infrastructure in rural
communities significantly reduces the income-earning ability, dimin-
ishes well-being and restricts the freedoms of all rural residents. it may
also contribute to psychological and emotional responses such as fear,
insecurity and fatalism. lack of freedom to promote and protect social
and psychological resources impact human well-being (World bank
2015a; rao and Donaldson 2015; biswas-Diener and Diener 2001; reis
et al. 2000) and the Ca facilitates their integration into the poverty dis-
course. social and psychological capabilities have broadened the pool
of dimensions for evaluating human conditions (frediani et al. 2014;
robeyns 2003b; nussbaum 2003, 2001; sen 1999, 1993). austin (2015)
refers to them as internal capabilities that support practical reasoning
and the concept of valuable well-being. The capability approach (Ca)
justifies the inclusion of multiple dimensions of well-being and en-
trenches the participant’s role in the identification of dimensions (sen
1999, 1993).
freedom encapsulates how enabling or disabling opportunities and
processes are within an individual’s personal and social contexts. sen
(1993) posited that freedom as personal autonomy and social accept-
ance of valuable states is intrinsic and instrumental. alkire (2005, 117)
expounded sen’s (1993) perspective of freedom and explains that the
core objective of poverty reduction “should be to expand the freedom
that deprived people have to enjoy ‘valuable beings and doings’. They
should have access to the necessary positive resources, and they should
be able to make choices that matter to them.” freedom to access re-
sources and opportunities is part of the normative evaluation of well-
being. still, the freedom to choose broadens the informational base for
identifying the nature and structure of poverty (nussbaum 2003;
robeyns 2003a). This openness to various abilities and freedoms cap-

tures the dynamic nature of human experience more adequately than
static terms, such as income and consumption. on this matter of mak-
ing human diversity visible within the context of poverty and develop-
ment, sen (1992, xi-1) asserted:
human diversity is no secondary complication (to be ignored, or to
be introduced ‘later on’); it is a fundamental aspect of our interest…
sometimes, human diversities are left out not on account of the mis-
conceived ‘high’ ground of ‘equality of human beings’, but on the
pragmatic ‘low’ ground of the need for simplification. but the net
result of this can also be to ignore centrally important features of
the demands of equality.
sen’s concern with omitting ‘other’ forms of human development
builds on his argument about human diversity (1979, 1999). he posited
that if humans are inherently different in their acts and beings, which
contributes to human flourishing, then the argument that individuals
have different valuable acts and beings should be beneficial to the de-
bate on poverty and development. in other words, if an ‘act’ or ‘being’
contributes to the development of an individual or group, then the ex-
pansion of those acts and states of being should be the goal of devel-
opment initiatives. Therefore, it stands to reason that if policy-makers
arbitrarily hide, obscure or make invisible valuable aspects of people’s
well-being or poverty, apart from the moral implications, they could in-
advertently contribute to making people worse-off or institutionalise
their state of poverty.
another Ca component relevant to this study is having consulta-
tions with the poor that explore their values and choices (sen 1999).
scholars agreed that this participatory procedure captures aspects of
the poor’s value system that illuminates their condition (biggeri and
ferrannini 2014; frediani et al. 2014; alkire 2007). Their value system
has both instrumental and intrinsic factors, including the expression
of freedom. lack of understanding of these factors by policy-makers
can potentially make intended beneficiaries worse off. (Porter et al.
1991). Therefore, the operationalisation of the Ca must acknowledge
the poor’s value system.
The construct of the capability approach makes ‘room for a variety
of human acts and states as important in themselves. it also makes
room for valuing various freedoms—in the form of capabilities’ (sen
1993, 33). human existence is diverse, and so is their experience of
poverty and development. Ca’s philosophical underpinning is equality
and social justice, which lays the foundation for a broader understand-
ing of human experiences and represents a pivotal paradigm shift from

the utility-based consumption measure of poverty.
The Ca has served as a useful conceptual and analytical tool in
gender and development, where it has become a catalyst in unearthing
complex functionings, capabilities and some dynamic forms of unfree-
dom. it has become a valuable platform for discourses on the diverse
experiences of women. in particular, their experiences of injustice as
a global phenomenon and the impact of unequal distribution of re-
sources and opportunities on their quality of life (sen 1999; 1990;
1985). The Ca, therefore, promotes the evolving discourse on the de-
velopment of women, as the debate moves from sympathetically inte-
grating women into economic development initiatives to a more holistic
evaluation of their human experience of freedoms, capabilities and
functionings.
Capability Approach advancing Gender and Development

some notable contributions have sustained the debate for more mean-
ingful and heterogeneous development pathways for women. in the
1980s, the era of prescriptive gender norms, Moser (1989) put forward
the development planning framework as a radical approach to identi-
fying the gender needs of low-income women. one of the feminist
principles that underpin this approach and is also a core feature of the
Ca is that women must be active participants in development, espe-
cially that which directly impact their lives (Mohammed 2018; sen
1999). Two components of the framework share this consultative pro-
cedure. one identifies practical gender needs (Moser 1989), which are
basic needs identified by women based on their gender roles and re-
sponsibilities. The second is the strategic gender needs, also identified
in collaboration with the participants. scholars argue that those needs’
fulfilment could be transformational for low-income women (Mo-
hammed 2018; Kabeer 2003; Moser 1989). Moser’s (1989) proposal
was instrumental in ushering the transition from the women in devel-
opment (WiD) to the gender and development (GaD) policy frame-
work.
by the 1990s, postmodern and postcolonial feminists’ critique of
the WiD policy framework, as incapable of dismantling the institu-
tional structures erected and maintained by patriarchy and the West,
helped usher in the GaD framework. The GaD framework empha-
sises the acknowledgement of women’s diverse experiences (Jaquette
2017; Koczberski 1998). GaD builds on WiD’s success in creating a
space on the development agenda for women by women. it also ad-
dresses three major limitations of WiD. first, WiD’s interventions
were inadequate to dismantle the structural barriers that reinforced the

subordination of women. hence, GaD holds social relation as the
main barrier and its interrogation is a critical feature of this framework
(Jaquette 2017). secondly, WiD interventions are generally peripheral
to the broader development agenda and tend to be gender-neutral;
therefore, GaD promoted gender mainstreaming to institutionalise
gender lenses into development initiatives (Jaquette 2017). Thirdly,
WiD had a narrow portrayal of low-income women as weak, helpless
and voiceless. GaD advanced participatory development practice to
“recognise the diversity of women’s experience and allowed local par-
ticipants to define their strategic gender needs for themselves” (Jaquette
2017, 247).
The Ca has contributed to GaD becoming one of the most pro-
gressive policy frameworks in women’s development discourse (bide-
gain Ponte and rodriguez enriquez 2016). nevertheless, dismantling
structural barriers, addressing gender issues as development priorities
and recognising the breadth of diversity of womanhood and female
experiences remain incomplete objectives of GaD. Tackling these ob-
jectives has been incremental, which is necessary to examine structural
barriers but insufficient for urgent policy and program reforms that
are fundamental to expanding women’s “range of human choice”
(lewis 1955, 420). The most significant contribution of Ca to GaD
is a platform in mainstream development for pursuing these incomplete
objectives.
advancing GaD through the Ca is exemplified in the work of
nussbaum (2011; 2003; 2001; 2000; nussbaum and Glover 1995) and
robeyns (2017; 2016a; 2016b; 2014; 2003a; 2003b). nussbaum critiques
dominant development theory and practice as structural barriers to
women’s empowerment. her work, embedded in social justice, pro-
motes capabilities and access to material and non-material resources as
real opportunities for the deprived to live meaningful lives. her most
influential work has been her list of ten central capabilities—life; bodily
health; bodily integrity; senses, imagination and thought; emotions;
practical reason; affiliation; other species; play; and control over one’s
environment (nussbaum 2003). she posited that this prescribed list by
no means reflects the full range of choices for women but are founda-
tional rights of social justice that, if guaranteed, has the potential of
advancing the most central capabilities.
on the other hand, robeyns (2003a) disagrees with nussbaum’s
(2003) list of capabilities and argued against a prescriptive list of capa-
bilities for women’s development. instead, she situated her work in wel-
fare and development economics and advanced a five-criteria
procedural approach for identifying and evaluating relevant capabilities.

it also preserves the participatory tenets of the Ca and recognises
women’s diversity. The five criteria are explicit formulation, method-
ological justification, sensitivity to context, different levels of generality,
and exhaustion and non-reduction (robeyns 2003a). she supplements
the procedural approach with a guiding list of 14 capabilities—life and
physical health, mental well-being, bodily integrity and safety, social re-
lations, political empowerment, education and knowledge, domestic
work and nonmarket care, paid work and other projects, shelter and
environment, mobility, leisure activities, time-autonomy, respect, and
religion (robeyns 2003a). nussbaum’s (2003) list is more abstract than
that of robeyn (2003a), but they have expanded the conceptual frame-
work of gender within the capability approach. a multidimensional ap-
proach to exploring poverty is becoming standard practice in both
developed and developing countries, which has provided context-spe-
cific data for more effective policy-making and uncovered the nature
of poverty among women, who are part of the poorest population
most countries.
Debate on the development of women has generally been outside
mainstream economic theory. The Ca contributed to gender being a
central theme in welfare and development economics and social justice
for the last two decades. notable proponents have expanded the con-
ceptual framework to define and evaluate women’s multiple experiences
of poverty and development. The Ca requires that poor women be
part of the deliberation in selecting valuable dimensions and indicators,
which was one of the unachieved goals of previous policy frameworks.
This paper facilitated the meaningful participation of poor women in
discussions on poverty issues that directly impact their lives. The fol-
lowing section presents key findings from those deliberations.
MeThoDoloGY anD DesCriPTion of ParTiCiPanTs

as mentioned in the previous section, the use of the Ca in the gender
and development field is well-established (robeyns 2016b, 2003a; nuss-
baum 2003; sen 1999, 1990). Part of this accepted practice is conduct-
ing capability-designed evaluations of women’s well-being (Cin et al.
2020; George 2015; Chattier 2012). Two significant advantages of the
Ca, from which this study has benefitted, are its acceptance of human
diversity and applying social justice and economic nuances to interro-
gate women’s socio-economic context to unearth embedded injustice
deprivations. This paper emanated from a broader research prepared
according to the procedure proposed by robeyns (2003a). robeyns’
(2003a) five criteria procedure was selected above that of nussbaum

(2003) because it made provision for the women to define their valuable
functionings and capabilities instead of restricting them to a pre-defined
list, as proposed by nussbaum (2003).
The literature review conducted identified rural women among the
most impoverished population. a sample of rural women was selected
using purposive and snowball sampling based on these criteria: rural
residents and participants in a poverty reduction initiative for at least
one year. first, the Jamaica social investment fund (Jsif) approved
the rural economic Development initiative (reDi) as a case study.
reDi was the only project that met the research objectives of being a
multi-component poverty reduction project implemented in rural com-
munities by the Government of Jamaica. This type of project was cho-
sen because of its participatory strategies that facilitated the evaluation
of women’s well-being in a broad context. in selecting the sample of
women, Jsif used the criteria provided and identified a sample of ben-
eficiaries who consented to participate in the research. snowball sam-
pling took place through these women. The research participants
consisted of 84 women from six rural communities in Jamaica (see fig-
ure 4)—bath, logwood, Maggotty, Mango Valley, Prospect and Treas-
ure beach, a smaller sample than planned to low response rate. The aim
was to have 5% or 10% of the 3,108 female beneficiaries.
Data was collected through a three-phase fieldwork consisting of
in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation. Descrip-
tive data from phases one and two was analysed using nVivo software,
thematic analysis and pattern matching, which informed the survey de-
velopment in phase three. Phase-three findings were not included in
this study.
Key findings from the in-depth interviews and focus groups in
phases one and two are presented in this section. These techniques ef-
fectively explored the women’s experiences, as they facilitated rich nar-
ratives of the various contexts, actors and responses (saleh, Menon and
Clandinin 2014), with the researcher being the knowledge seeker and
the participant as the creator of knowledge. The narratives progressed
at a relational level, with mutual power and no hierarchy (england
1994), which helped ease communication and increased openness and
reflection for both researcher and participant. in their narratives, the
women shared experiences and perceptions of poverty, their quality of
life concerning their understanding of poverty, well-being, life goals,
priorities, challenges and related emotional experiences.
Description of participants
Demographic data of the women was a valuable aspect of their diver-
sity. The group of women were between the ages of 19 and 88, with a
majority in the 40-65 age group and included those who were single,
married and in a common-law relationship. The majority were house-
hold heads; some lived alone, while others were in small and large
households. Most of the women were mothers with children and inti-
mate partners. figure 3 indicates that 60% of the sample were in the
childbearing and childrearing age range (15-54).
MulTiDiMensional PoVerTY as eXPerienCeD bY

rural WoMen
This section adopts the capability approach and conceptualises poverty,
based on the experiences of the sample of women, as a lack of or fail-
ure to achieve a combination of capabilities. The evidence of processes
and institutions that curtail their freedom to choose various function-
ings and capabilities is illustrative. it does not represent the full extent
of the poverty encountered by the sample of women. The focus is on
material, social, psychological and physical dimensions, extrapolated
from the data shown in figure 5. robeyn’s (2003a) and nussbaum’s
(2003) capability lists were used to guide the descriptions of the di-
mensions and indicators of poverty in this study.
Material poverty was identified by eight indicators: insufficient in-
come, unemployment and underemployment, insufficient food, limited
access to utilities, inadequate housing, underutilised and insufficient re-
sources, inadequate clothing and inability to pay utility bills. social
poverty had nine indicators—dependency, neglect, abusive relationship,
social exclusion, lack of recognition, inability to nurture children, low
levels of formal education, limited skills and praedial larceny. Psycho-
logical poverty was associated with nine indicators—depression, em-
barrassment and shame, mental myopia (narrow-mindedness), laziness,
doubt and fear, low self-worth, discouragement, unhappiness and fa-
talism. Physical poverty had two indicators, namely, poor bodily health
and lack of participation in productive activity. The following discus-
sion examines the four dimensions and some indicators.
Material Poverty
overall, the material dimension of poverty emerged as the most preva-
lent aspect of their poverty based on analysis of data from both focus
groups and interviews. Most of the women experienced a combination
figure 3: age range of research sample size (female participants)
source: Chambers 2017

figure 4: Distribution of sample size across rural Communities
of insufficient income, unemployment/underemployment and insuf-

ficient food. interconnection between indicators within and across di-
mensions was a common feature of their experiences. Jennifer’s
experience confirmed the diversity of poverty that the women navi-
gated daily:8
sometimes i cannot find food, and i consider that as poverty. al-
though i am working, at the end of the month, the bills have to
be paid, and sometimes i am just left with $1,000 and having a
child, i have to ensure that he is ok.9 i have to pay rent, electricity,
Don’s school fee and lunch bill. sometimes being poor, i am un-
able to pay my bills or buy clothes.—Jennifer, 28-year-old mother of
one child and pregnant, caregiver and seasonal worker in Treasure Beach
Insufficient income: The women reported both lack of and insufficient
income as aspects of their poverty. income included cash in hand re-
8 Pseudonyms were used for the names of the women to protect their identity and
they gave consent for their actual experiences to be part of the study. Therefore,
experiences are factual but not verbatim because the interviews were translated
from Patois to english. every effort was made to maintain the meaning and pre-
serve the authenticity of their experience, with the inclusion of some local words
and slangs.
9 an estimated us$9 (exchange rate us$1=Ja$111.30 as at Dec 2014). source:
http://boj.org.jm/foreign_exchange/fx_rates_annual.php
figure 5: Dimensions and indicators of Poverty for sample of rural Women

ceived either as their wages or money from relatives, friends or partners,

which some noted as unreliable sources. not having an income was a
lack of functioning, but it also limited their freedom to pursue other
capabilities. insufficient income restricted their capabilities of having
adequate food, being able to care for their children and being able to
meet personal needs.
limited job opportunities and seasonal and unstable employment
curtailed their freedom to have sufficient income. some of the women
explained how praedial larceny, low farm yield due to drought, flooding
and restricted water access, along with poor bodily health, further di-
minished their income-earning capabilities.10 others noted that being
in low-income jobs contributed to them having no savings to convert
during ‘tough’ times and ‘living from hand-to-mouth’, as noted by ‘irene’, a
62-year-old mother of four children, grandmother, caregiver and sub-
sistence farmer:
i use to work but i only got enough money to pay my taxi fare or
bus fare and i didn’t get anything else from it; i couldn’t save out
of it. so i just worked to feed myself . . . i didn’t have enough
[money] to take me to the doctor or to put a little in the bank. i
was working but still i don’t achieve anything.
These were situations in which the women worked long hours and
received minimum wages (the means) with little time to care for them-
selves and family or pursue other options that could transform their
subsistence living (valuable ends). income was an important means for
some valuable ends. sen (1999, 1985) argued that this distinction is crit-
ical because it sheds light on a person’s value system, which is instru-
mental for policy-making. These findings suggest that policy
formulation should facilitate both the achievement of worthwhile life
goals and means of living.
Unemployment and underemployment: The women described these as
being unable to have secure income-earning options and full-time jobs,
having short-term and seasonal jobs, as well as long periods of unem-
ployment. unsecured hospitality work, seasonal subsistence farming
and years of unemployment were common experiences among the
women in all five communities. according to the women in the Mango
Valley community focus group:
. . . There are women in the community like age 30 and older who
were crying out that they couldn’t find any job. some of us did
10 Praedial larceny: Praedial larceny is the theft of agricultural produce and livestock.
Praedial larceny results in the loss of productive resources and fear within rural
communities.
domestic work in ocho rios and only received enough money

to pay the transportation fare and nothing else — it wasn’t work-
ing out for us.
a majority of the women, young and old, did not have secure in-
come-earning options mainly because of the absence of job opportu-
nities, over-reliance on small-scale farming, low skill set, and caregiving
responsibilities obligations. The agriculture sector was the industry in
which most women had employment opportunity. however, agricul-
tural production was seasonal, with a limited market for most products.
for example, agro-processing of jams, jellies, bammy, wine, pickles and
pastries was seasonal and mainly at the promotional level, with the
rural agricultural Development authority (raDa) as the only identi-
fied market. additionally, agricultural production was generally low and
consisted mainly of subsistent farming, animal husbandry and poultry
rearing. iiCa (2010) identified similar limitations in the industry in Ja-
maica.
obligation to caregiving roles and responsibilities directly influ-
enced the employment choice of the women in all five communities,
as stated in the following examples:
sometimes i do the hotel programme, so sometimes i do work.
[but] sometimes you can’t leave your family, especially when you
have girl-child, not because you want the money—you have to
respect your family.—Amelia, 42-year-old mother of four children, care-
giver and seasonal worker in Maggotty
When school is in session, i would be at school selling things and
during the holidays i’m at home with my kids.—Megan, 42-year-
old mother of three children, caregiver and unemployed in Mango Valley
Gender roles and responsibilities strongly influenced their employment
choices. This finding supports the work of other poverty studies
(George 2015; Chattier 2012; Mason 1985) in linking gender roles and
responsibilities with the economic decisions of low-income working-
class women. furthermore, these results corroborate a crucial tenet of
the capability paradigm, which notes that non-utility factors, such as
childcare, directly impact an individual’s well-being (robeyns 2016b;
sen 1999). These findings have important implications for the devel-
opment of economic programs with childcare considerations.
Insufficient food: lack of food meant having no crop to harvest on
smallholding farms and the inability to purchase food items. limited
food, though similar, referred to having some food while lacking others.
over 70 per cent of references from focus groups and interviews for
this indicator related to lack of food and hunger, while the others were
about having inadequate food. The women viewed the provision of

food or the need for food as an essential part of their lives. food was
limited when they had to drink ‘Cerasee’ tea alone and eat dumpling with
butter. nevertheless, the absence of food and deficient portions were
only two parts to their meaning of insufficient food. another aspect
of their poverty was the hunger experienced by their children.
Poverty for me is sometimes when i wake up in the morning and
i can’t find food to eat and i have children crying for hunger and
i can’t even give them some bush-tea or not even to cook a little
all-in-one pot.—Antonette, 37-year-old mother of three children, caregiver
and subsistence farmer
some women expressed that they sometimes struggle to buy es-
sential food items, while others described instances when they had no
food to eat. insufficient income and low farm yield were the main fac-
tors that limited their freedom to have food. lack of food was more
pronounced among the elderly than other members of the communi-
ties. being in an abusive relationship and lack of financial support from
their ‘baby-father’ also compromised their ability to feed themselves and
their children. furthermore, those with access to welfare support noted
that it was insufficient in reducing their hunger and the other aspects
of poverty.
Limited access to utility and facility: limited access to utility and facility
referred to being unable to access or having restricted usage of publicly
provided services. The utilities and facilities discussed were access to
electricity, water, health care services, educational institutions and rel-
evant government agencies. limited access to water and educational
institutions significantly curtailed the women’s freedom to achieve other
functionings and capabilities. for example, farmers in Prospect and
Treasure beach communities bemoaned the limited source and high
cost of water, especially during periods of drought. according to the
Prospect community focus group:
because there is no irrigation, we have been buying water from
the trucks. The rainfall was low for the last couple of months.
Water is one of our primary source in operating the facility.
[right] now we are spending a lot of money on water.
The absence of local health care facilities in most communities
forced the women and their families to pay high costs for travel and
private doctors’ visits in urban areas. at the same time, home remedies
were the only option for some women. The lack of tertiary and voca-
tional institutions in all five communities restricted educational achieve-
ments and income-earning opportunities for the sample of women.
according to nussbaum (2003), it is within the government’s

power to provide institutions that protect the rights of the poor, such
as the right to water, housing and food, and the right to seek employ-
ment on an equal basis with others. These findings and earlier studies
revealed long-term institutional barriers in rural communities in Jamaica
(PioJ 2018b; beckford 1974), suggesting systematic discrimination
against the rural population.
Material poverty for the sample of women included a tapestry of
interconnected deprivations, inequalities and structural deficiencies in
their rural communities. Consistent with the theoretical framework (Ja-
quette 2017; sen 1999) and the multidimensional approach to poverty,
this broad understanding of the well-being challenges faced by the sam-
ple of women was unearthed through an extensive examination of
their diverse experiences. Conversely, the dominant consumption meas-
ure of poverty often focuses on food and economic deprivations
(atkinson et al. 2019).
Social Poverty
nussbaum (2003) and robeyns (2003a) presented social relation and
affiliation as substantial functionings in a primary bundle of capability
that support human well-being. analysis of data from the lived expe-
riences of the sample of rural women revealed that their freedom to
enjoy social relations and meaningful affiliation was diminished by de-
pendence, abusive relationships, social exclusion, and other factors.
Dependence: being independent was a valuable functioning for the
sample of women. This finding is similar to that of an earlier study in
which both rural and urban Jamaican women identified being inde-
pendent as a well-being capability (oDn 2001). like the women in the
previous study, some in this current study also failed to achieve this ca-
pability because their conditions forced them to be dependent. They
perceived dependence as being vulnerable, subordinate and over-reliant
on others. ‘irene’, a 62-year-old mother of four children, grandmother,
caregiver and subsistence farmer who lived with her son and his family,
explained her experience of being dependent. her living arrangement
was verified by on-site observation:
a poor quality of life is when i don’t have anywhere to live and
have to depend on somebody at all times because when i rely on
somebody, it’s not all the time they will have it [support] to give
you . . .
Most of the women felt over-reliant on intimate partner, friends
and neighbours for money, food and clothes. some felt ashamed be-
cause they did not have a toilet or bathroom and had to rely on their
neighbours for these sanitary facilities. The women associated feelings
of subordination—feeling ‘small’—in instances where they had to de-
pend on the Government for welfare benefits and housing assistance
and forced to rely on male partners for financial support. over-reliance
on others reduced their freedom to meet personal and family needs in
a dignified manner and took away their independence to have affilia-
tions and relationships based on mutual respect and without shame.
These findings on the nature of dependence were also present in other
studies. Taken together, they have shed light on the intensity of de-
pendence and associated negative emotions that underpin the experi-
ence of poverty in rural Jamaica. The internalisation of their
deprivation requires further psycho-social research.
Abusive relationship: abusive relationship encompassed a pattern of
offensive and harmful behaviour mostly intended to control or intim-
idate (Watson-Williams 2018). analysis of the women’s experiences re-
vealed high levels of physical and verbal abuse, mainly in intimate
partner relationship and less in parent-child relationship. a common
manifestation of intimate partner violence (iPV) was physical abuse.
This finding broadly supports the work of other studies on the impact
of iPV on women’s well-being (Watson-Williams 2018). The present
findings corroborate with those of Watson-Williams (2018) that young
women were at a greater risk of experiencing iPV, as revealed by the
following examples:
• in an emotional face-to-face interview, ‘Clara’, a 71-year-old
mother of seven children, retired public servant, cried through-
out as she narrated her experience of iPV: at 21 years old i be-
came pregnant . . . a few years later, i married my husband—the
saddest story of my life [sigh]—abusive, abuse in the fullest form,
abuse after abuse, physical abuse . . . at one stage, i almost lost
a child because he had kicked me so badly . . . i couldn’t work
because he wanted me to have a baby every year . . . he would
hit me in the eye and burn me . . . he raped and strangled me in
front of our children . . . i ran away with my children, but he
found me and broke my knee . . .
• ‘Jennifer’, a 28-year-old mother of one child, pregnant, caregiver
and personal service worker, stated: at eight months [of preg-
nancy] my ‘baby-father’ [intimate partner] wanted to have sex,
but i refused… nevertheless he fought me and i started bleeding.
• ‘audrey’, a 42-year-old mother of three children, caregiver and
business owner: We separated because he drank and was very
abusive — physically and verbally — and i couldn’t deal with it

anymore. achieving some of the things i wanted [after the sep-
aration] was a struggle and it was very hard but God helped me
through it . . . Domestic abuse is not a life that anybody should
live, so we separated.
being in an abusive relationship contributed to poor-bodily health
and violated the women’s right to a life free from violence, dignified
and of equal worth as others. it caused them to be fearful and com-
promised their freedom to have mutually beneficial and meaningful re-
lationships. These results support those of smith et al. (2019) and
Watson-Williams (2018), who found diminished physiological and psy-
chological functionings in victims of iPV.
Social exclusion: The women valued having mutually beneficial rela-
tionships, but some could not achieve this functioning. at the commu-
nity level, some women disengaged and isolated themselves from
various community groups due to differences in preferences in the di-
rection of groups. also, discrimination by other community members
limited participation in community activities for some of the women.
‘Teresa’, a 72-year-old mother of seven children and subsistence
farmer, shared how she felt excluded from a group:
i’m not feeling comfortable with them [members of a commu-
nity group] . . . They use to call me earlier . . . They no longer call
me and now they choose who they want and they don’t choose
me . . . i think it’s because i am poor.
on the other hand, some who evaluated their situation as very
poor chose to isolate themselves because they felt ashamed about their
living condition, especially their state of material poverty. similar to
the earlier research by oDn (2001) this study found that the extremely
poor were isolated. still, in contrast, it found their state of isolation to
be partly due to their freedom to choose whether or not to participate
in community groups and activities. infrequent visits from political rep-
resentatives and limited government support contributed to feelings
of alienation among the women in several rural communities. social
exclusion marginalised these poor women and violated their right to
be respected and treated equally. it also promoted feelings of shame
and embarrassment.
Inability to care for children: Caregiving related to nussbaum’s (2003,
41) functioning of ‘being able to live with and towards others, to recog-
nise and show concern for other human beings.’ it involved providing
for and nurturing a child or children and was a central functioning for
the women in this study. They perceived the inability to provide edu-
cation for their children as a failure to protect one’s future. being unable
to provide food and clothes for their children meant a lack of control
for the women and being labelled a ‘worthless mother’. Caregiving was
also a measure of self-worth, accomplishment and future well-being
in the women’s lives. This finding confirms the association between
caregiving and increased psychological capabilities that was also present
in the studies of stewart (2014), leslie et al. (2001) and Mason (1985).
The women in the Maggotty focus group shared the challenges they
encounter in caring for their children:
. . . in times when i can’t provide certain things for them [chil-
dren], it makes me feel miserable. right now my daughter needs
school uniform and i don’t have the money to buy it . . . some-
times they want things [food, clothes, money for school] and i
can’t find it to give them . . . i still struggle to help my children.
Many women referred to their children as ‘old-age pension’ and pri-
oritised investment in their education. Caring for their children was
one aspect of their experience, for which many of them made personal
and professional sacrifices. This finding on the connection between
childcare and personal sacrifice for Jamaican parents is consistent with
those of earlier work done by brown and Johnson (2008). inability to
provide care and nurture their children meant the loss of freedom to
influence and control one of the essential aspects of their life. The in-
trinsic value of producing healthy and educated children included high
self-worth, being respected in the community, and hoping that the chil-
dren will reciprocate care to the mothers in their later years. The women
reasoned that these outcomes were valuable, so some even chose to
sacrifice their well-being in pursuit of them. This finding confirms sen’s
(1999) proposition that freedom to choose has intrinsic value and can
impact well-being. further study on the impact of childrearing on the
well-being of women in Jamaica could provide practical explanations
about their value system and socio-cultural practices, such as investing
in children as ‘old-age pension’.
Psychological Poverty
nussbaum (2003) and robeyns (2003a) put forward senses, imagina-
tion, thought, emotions, reasons, and mental health as central capabil-
ities for human well-being. exploration of these internal capabilities
illuminated some non-tangible aspects of the women’s experience. all
references to psychological terms relied on the women’s self-evaluation
of emotional and psychological responses to their experience of
poverty.
Depression: The women described having negative emotions over

different periods, including feelings of hopelessness, misery, and feeling
trapped and imprisoned. These were emotional responses to the ma-
terial, social and physical forms of poverty. for example, ‘irene’ ex-
pressed hopelessness because of her poor bodily health and insufficient
income to cover medical expenses. she lamented her situation, saying,
sometimes, when i can’t meet my needs, i just feel like giving up.
Yes, sometimes i feel like giving up on myself.
experiences of abusive relationship, neglect, poor bodily health, insuf-
ficient income and inadequate housing blighted their opportunity to
develop and enjoy healthy emotions over their lifetime, revealing the
multidimensional nature of their experience of poverty. similar find-
ings linking depression to poverty were present in oDn’s (2001) study
of the poor’s perception of poverty and well-being in rural and urban
communities in Jamaica.
Embarrassment and shame: The women had a sense of dignity and
self-worth that was eroded by disapproval and discrimination, which
resulted in feelings of embarrassment and shame. embarrassment and
shame were their main responses to perceptions of and disapproval by
others who regarded them as being poor, illiterate and dependent.
These discriminatory labels also resulted in some of the women feeling
inferior. another common practice that highlighted the feeling of in-
feriority among some of the women was to classify themselves as being
from the ‘poorer class’ because of their experience of material poverty.
feelings of inferiority diminished their sense of dignity and belief that
they are of equal worth as other community members. ‘Teresa’ shared
one of the situations that made her feel embarrassed:
[a] church sister asked me to take up the offering and another
said she should ask a brother; another asks me to do communion
—i washed the persons’ feet and then i brought the water to
throw away and they told me not to come up the front—they
didn’t tell me why. i was angry and went home right there. i don’t
do any duty now—i told them not to put me on any duty because
they make me [feel] embarrass—three times they stopped me
from doing duty—offering communion and clean.
association between poverty and shame was not yet present in the
literature on poverty in Jamaica. however, these findings are consistent
with other global studies, such as Chase and Walker (2013) and Walker
et al. (2013), that reveal shame to be a double-edged sword in the con-
text of poverty. first, they found that the poor internalised shame and
used it as a frame for their condition. second, in response to the social
construct of their condition, shame was manifested in isolation, exclu-

sion and self-harm. in a recent study, engel (2017) recommended that
research on shame and other emotions offers new dimensions to eval-
uate and better understand the poor’s lived experiences, perceptions,
and feelings. The connection between poverty and shame needs to be
explored further in the Jamaican context because the current findings
suggest that their connection has implications for the formulation, im-
plementation and impact of poverty reduction policies.
Mental myopia: nussbaum (2003) highlighted the use of one’s imag-
ination, thought and mind as a central capability for well-being. analysis
of the women’s experience revealed several barriers to the full devel-
opment of this capability. inadequate education, limited exposure to
scientific methods of agricultural and business development, and over-
reliance on oral learning contributed to mental myopia or narrow-
mindedness. They also experienced limited exposure and application
of reliable strategies for social relations, which can be associated with
linear thinking, one-dimensional reasoning and a fixed mindset. for
example, participants in Mango Valley focus group had a narrow view
of how to produce wine and were reluctant to explore other options.
They stated:
sDC taught us how to make the wine with the eggshell so that it
can be fermented. it was sort of not working very well for us,
for me personally, i couldn’t bear it. so i didn’t want to work with
it and the other ladies didn’t want to work with it either because
we were thinking that eggshell is supposed to be ‘raw’, but actu-
ally it wasn’t. it was just our thinking.
The women’s most myopic tendencies are related to concepts of
work, leisure, gender roles and responsibilities, and identity. This find-
ing supports the association made by nicely and sydnor (2015) be-
tween narrow mindset and aversion to exploring entrepreneurship
options among rural residents in st. Thomas. however, the association
between poverty and narrow mindedness has not been previously de-
scribed in the context of poverty and rural women in Jamaica. how-
ever, research in the uK made a similar observation about the impact
of poverty on internal capability and a broader population of the poor
(austin 2015). austin (2015) found that the poor adjusted their internal
capability and mindset and resigned to the little possibilities within
reach. The studies found that having to make hard choices in a context
of persistent deprivation resulted in what austin (2015) referred to as
‘downward adaptation’ – conditioning of the mind that values what is
reasoned to be practical, based on a narrow conception of well-being.
for some women, having myopic tendencies restricted their freedom
to experiment with other business ventures and seek help from pro-
fessionals for personal relations and business development. Myopic
tendencies were mainly associated with their concepts of work and
identity. This finding suggests that even though material poverty is a
direct factor, the psychological aspects may be contributing to chronic
poverty.
Physical Poverty
according to nussbaum (2003) and robeyns (2003a), being able to
have adequate education, scientific training and good health are among
human’s primary capabilities. Deprivation of these capabilities in the
form of low levels of formal education, poor bodily health and limited
skill set are discussed in this section as indicators of physical poverty.
Low levels of formal education: education and vocational training in-
clude the ability to acquire and use knowledge to advance one’s well-
being, but they also have intrinsic value (nussbaum 2003; sen 1999).
a majority of the women failed to achieve an adequate level of formal
education. Most of them acknowledged that they only completed pri-
mary school, with a few having secondary and tertiary level education:
• i don’t think i have anything else to be proud of because i
didn’t get an education — after i left primary school at age
15, i didn’t go back to another school. so i just read and write,
well i can’t read very well and i don’t write so pretty. — ‘Irene’.
• My biggest challenge right now is not being able to read and
write. if i could read and write like you, i would achieve some-
thing — it might be that in those days i would have setup my-
self better . . . My mother was very poor, so she couldn’t
afford to school me, so because of that, i drop out of plenty
of things. — ‘Rosemarie’, 67-year-old mother of 11 children, grand-
mother, caregiver and subsistence farmer
some women associated their low levels of formal education with
limited general understanding, inability to help their children with
school work and not having the requirements to attend tertiary insti-
tutions. low and lack of school attendance, due to economic hardship,
diminished their freedom to acquire knowledge and education. Many
women noted that lack of access to formal education and vocational
training reduced their educational and skills development opportunity,
increased illiteracy within their community and decreased access to eco-
nomic opportunities. levy and ohls (2010) had similar findings on the
impact of institutional factors on poor educational outcomes. They ar-
gued that the inadequacy of educational institutions limits the poor’s
capability to convert education into improved well-being. additionally,

there were suggestions that dyslexia, a learning disorder, played a role
in the low literacy level in Treasure beach. no evidence of similar find-
ing was present in the literature on Jamaica and would need further re-
search. some of the women associated their low level of education
with feelings of shame and low self-worth.
Poor bodily health: nussbaum (2003) referred to bodily health as hav-
ing good health, including reproductive health and being nourished.
Many women self-reported Chikungunya Virus, hypertension and
arthritis as the most common factors that impeded their physical func-
tionings.
in describing these debilitating health factors, most participants re-
ferred to how they hindered their ability to care for themselves and
their family and hindered their participation in productive activities.
one participant in Prospect stated:
i have a hand with arthritis in the bone, so i can’t wake up early,
so sometimes i can’t do much of my farming. as a result, i have
to pay someone and so i lose that money. — Evelyn, 47-year-old
mother of four children, caregiver and subsistence farmer.
other forms of ill-health mentioned were high cholesterol, mi-
graine, sinusitis, dyslexia, anaemia and breast cancer. abusive relation-
ships and insufficient food also diminished their capability to have
bodily health. ‘Jennifer’ reported how being anaemic was a threat to
her baby’s survival:
When i was four months pregnant…i was too weak and kept
blacking out every second because i was anaemic from not eating
properly…The doctor said that i could lose the baby because i
was not eating properly.
These results are in line with those of previous studies (Watson-
Williams 2018; oDn 2001). Their ill-health reduced their freedom to
enjoy essential bodily functions such as using their hands, walking, read-
ing and writing. Those affected by debilitating health issues were unable
to achieve valuable functionings such as being able to participate fully
in economic activities, having an income, and caring for themselves
and family.
ConClusions anD PoliCY iMPliCaTions

as a small island developing state (siDs), Jamaica’s global image is one
of resilience. The country is ranked among the group of high-income
states, despite having to navigate economic challenges and annual risks
of natural disasters. a different picture emerges from the local context,
characterised by high poverty rates, with rural residents, particularly

women, being the most impoverished. Despite acknowledging various
vulnerabilities and deprivations inhibiting development, poverty con-
tinues to be narrowly defined as a measure of consumption. This uni-
dimensional perspective leaves a critical gap in the poverty debate in
Jamaica. The main aim of this paper was to contribute to filling this
gap in two ways. Methodologically, this study critiqued the consump-
tion measure of poverty because, in the formulation process, vital in-
formation about individuals’ quality of life gets omitted. it proposes
to complement the consumption measure, which gives a panoramic
sketch of national poverty, with the multidimensional perspective, for
an in-depth understanding of poverty based on the experiences of vul-
nerable groups. Practically, the application of the multidimensional per-
spective, guided by the capability approach, provided a broader
informational base for the evaluation of poverty. however, data was
collected from a small sample of rural women. hence, these results
and implications should be interpreted with caution.
analysis of qualitative data revealed poverty as a multidimensional
phenomenon, categorised by material, social, psychological and physical
dimensions with 29 indicators. The results of discussions with the sam-
ple of women add depth to our understanding of the nature of chronic
rural poverty and are consistent with empirical evidence from other
studies. interconnections between and across dimensions and indica-
tors characterised the nature of chronic poverty in rural communities.
Material poverty, the frame most commonly used by the women to de-
scribe their experiences of poverty, resulted from deprivation of several
capabilities and interconnection with contextual vulnerabilities. it re-
stricted them from achieving valuable capabilities of being well-fed,
being able to care for their children and being able to meet personal
needs. obligation to caregiving roles and responsibilities directly influ-
enced the employment choices of the women in all five communities.
This finding strongly suggests that non-utility factors influence the
well-being of women. Therefore, income, employment, and food were
essential means to other valuable ends, such as having a well-nurtured
child. These findings have implications for developing poverty policies
and indicate the need for them to address both means and ends, such
as economic programs with childcare considerations. This study con-
firmed that inadequate economic and social infrastructure and institu-
tions directly contributed to material poverty. an assessment of these
structures and environmental threats in rural Jamaica would be a good
starting point for rural development policies.
one of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is

the connection between social and psychological dimensions and ma-
terial and physical dimensions. The present findings on dependence,
social exclusion and depression contribute to an emerging body of lit-
erature on the psycho-social aspects of poverty in Jamaica. although
at an embryonic stage, this body of literature offers a new dimension
for evaluating and understanding the nature of poverty based on the
lived experiences of the poor. This study also adds shame and mental
myopia/narrow mindset, as new indicators to the body of literature
on the psycho-social aspects of poverty in Jamaica. Globally, the psy-
cho-social aspect is also an emerging dimension of poverty. overall,
this study strengthens the argument that a consumption-based measure
of poverty cannot capture the magnitude and intensity of chronic
poverty in rural communities in Jamaica. These findings have significant
implications for the framing, design and delivery of welfare policies
and programs. They highlight the importance of addressing the visible
needs and in humanising and dignifying the poor. future research on
the psycho-social dimension of poverty could explore achievement
emotions, cognitive psychology and downward adaptation, under-
pinned by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
before this study, there was no empirically supported list of mul-
tidimensional poverty and evidence of the connections between and
across dimensions and indicators of poverty was mainly anecdotal. This
study is the first investigation of the nature of poverty as experienced
by rural women in Jamaica and the Caribbean region. This study cannot
make predictions about poverty for other vulnerable groups in the re-
gion. however, it lays the groundwork for future research into multi-
dimensional poverty among other vulnerable groups in the Caribbean,
such as other groups of rural women, children, the elderly and indige-
nous groups. other investigations that apply a combination of the ca-
pability approach, gender and development framework and the
multidimensional poverty perspective could strengthen social and eco-
nomic interventions within the region. a national study on multidi-
mensional poverty could be instrumental for development policies, as
the country strives to fast-track the sustainable Development Goals
(sDGs) and Vision 2030 — Jamaica national Development Plan.
aCKnoWleDGeMenT
The Government of australia funded this research through the aus-
tralian Development scholarship and the australia leadership award
2012/2013. The Government of Jamaica provided exceptional support
through the bureau of Gender affairs and the Jamaica social invest-
ment fund. i am indebted to the rural women and men who sacrificed
their time, opened their homes and their hearts as they shared their ex-
periences with me. Your lived realities were my motivation and the
foundation of this study. i am most grateful to Tamica Grant, saman-
tha-Kay Johnston, and the two anonymous reviewers for helpful com-
ments. responsibility for any errors in the resulting work remains my
own.
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Social and Economic Studies 69:3&4 (2020): 177-224 ISSN 0037-7651

Exploring Multidimensional Poverty with

Abstract: Jamaica, an upper-middle-income country, is characterised by high

Keywords: Consumption Poverty, Multidimensional Poverty, rural

Poverty is a complex phenomenon that is exacerbated by vulnerability

source: PioJ and sTaTin 1990-2015

institute of Jamaica (PioJ) and the statistical institute of Jamaica

actual conditions of the poor puts them at a greater disadvantage, as

be known only in the long-term with vulnerable populations, such as

cations for the capability approach as the theoretical framework that

ConsuMPTion PoVerTY: sTrenGThs anD

5 Transient poverty is viewed as poverty observed at a fixed time that is temporary

on the other hand, Medvedev et al. (2013) assessed poverty reduction

male adult. The methodology makes no adjustments for the increased

TheoreTiCal fraMeWorK: aDVanCinG GenDer anD

robeyns 2003a). This openness to various abilities and freedoms cap-

ing of human experiences and represents a pivotal paradigm shift from

Capability Approach advancing Gender and Development

were inadequate to dismantle the structural barriers that reinforced the

procedural approach for identifying and evaluating relevant capabilities.

MeThoDoloGY anD DesCriPTion of ParTiCiPanTs

(2003a) five criteria procedure was selected above that of nussbaum

MulTiDiMensional PoVerTY as eXPerienCeD bY

source: Chambers 2017

figure 4: Distribution of sample size across rural Communities

source: Chambers 2017

of insufficient income, unemployment/underemployment and insuf-

source: Chambers 2017

ceived either as their wages or money from relatives, friends or partners,

domestic work in ocho rios and only received enough money

about having inadequate food. The women viewed the provision of

according to nussbaum (2003), it is within the government’s

abusive — physically and verbally — and i couldn’t deal with it

Depression: The women described having negative emotions over

construct of their condition, shame was manifested in isolation, exclu-

capability to convert education into improved well-being. additionally,

ConClusions anD PoliCY iMPliCaTions

characterised by high poverty rates, with rural residents, particularly

one of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is

47 (4): 739–54. https://doi-org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1177%2f00

Therese Turner-Jones, General Manager, Caribbean Country Depart-

nicely, annmarie, and sandra sydnor. 2015. “rural Tourism Development:

Planning institute of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. http://

_____. 2016b. “Capabilitarianism.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities

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