poverty households started off not poor in 2007 but had become so by 2010. We
also further differentiated between low-lying areas and upland areas in Yen Chau
district, as well as by ethnic group, as there are distinct differences in poverty levels
between these groups.
As shown by Neef et al. (2002), Kinh/Thai households predominantly live in
lowland villages, so here they benefitted from better infrastructure facilities such as
an electricity supply and good access to markets. From Table 12.9 we see that the
Kinh/Thai were better-off by 79.7 % on average than the other households, and
were therefore in the non-poor category. The Hmong and other ethnic households,
however, lagged behind, since they are predominantly located in upland villages;
their poor households constituted 61.6 % of the total number of poor households
((1.7 þ 6.0)/12.5). As much as 79.1 % of households were in the never-poor
category, while 8.4 % of households were chronically poor, consisting mainly of
the Hmong and other ethnic minorities. The share of households experiencing a
change in their poverty status was 12.5 %, of which 8.4 % escaped from poverty and
4.1 % entered poverty.
We now turn to analyzing the performance of policies aimed at assisting the poor
(Van Dinh forthcoming). We asked the panel households in 2007 and 2010 to rank,
Table 12.8 Poverty incidence and inequality measures in Yen Chau district, Vietnam
Year
Mean per capita daily
expenditure (1,000 VND)
Poverty status of
households (%)
Inequality measures
Poor
Nearly
poor
Non-poor Theil’T Theil’L Atkinson
2007 15.495
16.9 17.2
65.9
0.09
0.10
0.38
2010 19.405
12.5 12.8
74.7
0.06
0.07
0.28
Table 12.9 Dynamics of poverty in Yen Chau district, Vietnam, for 2007–2010 (%)
Poverty status of households: 2007–2010
% of all
households
Neverpoor
Escaping
from
poverty
Entering
poverty
Chronically
poor
All households
100
79.1
8.4
4.1
8.4
Residence
Lowland
85.2
89.6
4.8
2.8
2.8
Upland
14.8
18.9
29.0
11.5
40.6
Ethnicity
Thai
75.0
90.9
4.5
2.3
2.3
Kinh
9.5
74.7
10.5
7.4
7.4
Hmong and
other
15.5
24.0
26.0
11.0
39.0
Poverty
status
in 2007
Poor
16.9
0.0
50.0
0.0
50.0
Nearly poor
17.2
86.1
0.0
13.9
0.0
Non-poor
65.9
97.4
0.0
2.6
0.0
480
M. Zeller et al.
also further differentiated between low-lying areas and upland areas in Yen Chau
district, as well as by ethnic group, as there are distinct differences in poverty levels
between these groups.
As shown by Neef et al. (2002), Kinh/Thai households predominantly live in
lowland villages, so here they benefitted from better infrastructure facilities such as
an electricity supply and good access to markets. From Table 12.9 we see that the
Kinh/Thai were better-off by 79.7 % on average than the other households, and
were therefore in the non-poor category. The Hmong and other ethnic households,
however, lagged behind, since they are predominantly located in upland villages;
their poor households constituted 61.6 % of the total number of poor households
((1.7 þ 6.0)/12.5). As much as 79.1 % of households were in the never-poor
category, while 8.4 % of households were chronically poor, consisting mainly of
the Hmong and other ethnic minorities. The share of households experiencing a
change in their poverty status was 12.5 %, of which 8.4 % escaped from poverty and
4.1 % entered poverty.
We now turn to analyzing the performance of policies aimed at assisting the poor
(Van Dinh forthcoming). We asked the panel households in 2007 and 2010 to rank,
Table 12.8 Poverty incidence and inequality measures in Yen Chau district, Vietnam
Year
Mean per capita daily
expenditure (1,000 VND)
Poverty status of
households (%)
Inequality measures
Poor
Nearly
poor
Non-poor Theil’T Theil’L Atkinson
2007 15.495
16.9 17.2
65.9
0.09
0.10
0.38
2010 19.405
12.5 12.8
74.7
0.06
0.07
0.28
Table 12.9 Dynamics of poverty in Yen Chau district, Vietnam, for 2007–2010 (%)
Poverty status of households: 2007–2010
% of all
households
Neverpoor
Escaping
from
poverty
Entering
poverty
Chronically
poor
All households
100
79.1
8.4
4.1
8.4
Residence
Lowland
85.2
89.6
4.8
2.8
2.8
Upland
14.8
18.9
29.0
11.5
40.6
Ethnicity
Thai
75.0
90.9
4.5
2.3
2.3
Kinh
9.5
74.7
10.5
7.4
7.4
Hmong and
other
15.5
24.0
26.0
11.0
39.0
Poverty
status
in 2007
Poor
16.9
0.0
50.0
0.0
50.0
Nearly poor
17.2
86.1
0.0
13.9
0.0
Non-poor
65.9
97.4
0.0
2.6
0.0
480
M. Zeller et al.