Poverty is generally defined as the lack of enough financial resources to meet basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing, while also having limited access to essentials like healthcare, education, and clean water.

Lilit Yezekyan, CEO of the Caucasus Research Resource Centre Armenia, explains that there are two types of poverty: income poverty focuses solely on a lack of money, and multidimensional poverty, which provides a broader picture by combining income with non-monetary deprivations in areas like health, education, and living standards.

Extreme poverty is the harshest form, where families struggle to survive with less than ֏1,000 ($2.50) a day, meaning that they not only lack financial means, but are also almost entirely cut off from essential services to keep them safe and healthy. For context, the minimum monthly food basket — in other words the defined quantities of food products that contains the amount of food physiologically required (proteins, fats and carbohydrates) for a working age male to lead a normal life — costs around ֏33,000 ($82), meaning such families are consistently falling short.

In developing countries like Armenia, Yezekyan clarifies, one can observe such variety in examples of poverty and such differences from region to region that sometimes it’s hard to believe it all exists within one country. For example, in the Lori Province, there are heating problems, especially in villages, yet there is no waste collection issue. In contrast, in Shirak and Tavush, the biggest issue is in waste collection; thus, every region requires separate research.

Field research and exploration give a more precise picture, so going and examining the situation on the ground becomes crucial to better understanding it. Then, other research methods and fieldwork are required: quantitative surveys, focus group discussions, and perhaps case studies-choosing a specific case and studying it from different angles: from the municipality’s side, from the family’s side, from centralised state services, and so on.

‘My point here is probably that we sometimes look at statistics only at the macro level’, Yezekyan says.

‘For example, economic growth in 2022 was around 21%. As an economist, I look at that and understand what 21% means. But for some reason, state bodies proudly emphasise that we had economic growth. If we say we have 21% economic growth and do not think further, we fail to understand that this growth is linked to Russians coming to Armenia. And we do not ask ourselves: does this speak about economic diversification, or merely about luck?’.

The main approach to poverty measurement in Armenia is absolute poverty by consumption based on the annual Integrated Living Conditions Survey. According to data compiled by the state statistics service, Armstat, Armenia had a poverty rate of 21.7% in 2024, meaning that roughly one in five could not afford minimum food and basic non-food items within their current household consumption.

Notably, analysis by the Global World Bank shows that the extreme poverty rate among children is twice that of adults, reflecting the higher costs families face in raising children and the greater vulnerability of children to deprivation. Because their bodies and minds are still developing, children in poverty face potentially lifelong consequences for their health, learning, and overall well-being.

Additionally, poverty risks are not evenly distributed among children: the youngest children face the highest rates, children living in fragile and conflict-affected settings are disproportionately affected, and risks are significantly higher for children in rural areas, children with disabilities, displaced and refugee children, and children living in households where the head has low or no education.

‘For a child to live in poverty, it does not mean just the lack of money, but missing out on important aspects of childhood. These include limited access to quality education, as they either do not enroll in early education or complete school or need to leave school to find work and help support the families’, Armenuhi Hovakimyan, a Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF, tells OC Media.

‘When children don’t have access to quality education, they can’t develop the skills they need to secure well-paying jobs in the future. This limits their earning potential, creating a ripple effect that holds back economic progress’.

Families in Armenia often fall into poverty due to a combination of factors, Hovakimyan explains. This may be because of low or unstable wages, a high share of an informal economy, unemployment or underemployment, limited education and skills or a mismatch between those, health problems or a disability, or the household composition and care responsibilities (for example, having many children, mainly comprising dependents, or older persons). A lack of affordable housing and rising costs of living can quickly drain a family’s resources, even if they are employed. Economic shocks such as job loss, illness, or rising prices, as well as wider natural hazards and crises, can quickly push families who were previously managing into poverty, especially when savings and social protection coverage are insufficient.

While poverty estimates for recent years are not directly comparable due to methodological improvements, earlier data showed positive dynamics, so it would be inaccurate to suggest that people remain poor in a static sense. Rather, poverty reflects differing levels of exposure to risks and unequal capacity to benefit from economic growth.

Source: https://oc-media.org/a-ripple-effect-that-holds-back-economic-progress-growing-up-poor-in-armenia/