Poverty and Public Policy in the Context of Crisis
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: This review offers a framework for studying the measurement, consequences, and sources of poverty in times of crisis. Recent crises—such as COVID-19, the Great Recession, and environmental disasters—expose limitations of the standard social science toolkit for studying poverty and offer lessons for improving poverty and policy research. Regarding measurement, evidence suggests that the intrayear volatility of incomes and blurred boundaries between resource-sharing units deserve greater focus in poverty measurement debates. Regarding consequences, research emphasizes the need to quantify poverty's distinct roles as a risk factor versus stratifying feature during crises. Regarding sources, evidence from recent crises offers direct tests of competing theories of poverty and offers clear lessons for policy strategies to reduce poverty. I conclude that sociologists’ conceptual toolkit is uniquely well-suited to capture the multifaceted nature of poverty; the discipline should more forcefully incorporate its principles into a renewed study of poverty and public policy.
Source: Annual Review of Sociology
Author: Zachary Parolin
Institution: University of Oxford
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: No poverty
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7128860442