Determinants of Poverty during Transition: Household Survey Evidence from Ukraine

Abstract

The paper analyzes the incidence, the severity and the determinants of household poverty inUkraine during transition using two comparable surveys from 1996 and 2004. We measurepoverty using income and consumption and contrast the effects of various poverty lines.Poverty in both periods follows some of the determinants commonly identified in theliterature, including greater poverty among households with children and with less education.We also identify specific features of poverty in transition, including the relatively lowimportance of unemployment and the existence of poverty even among households withemployment. Poverty determinants change over time in line with the experience of transitionand restructuring.