Poorsuskoormust

Poorsuskoormust is a hypothetical construct used in social science to describe the cumulative burden associated with living in poverty. It conceptualizes poverty as more than low income, incorporating material deprivation, financial instability, administrative hurdles, psychosocial stress, and constrained opportunities into a single burden measure.

The term is a coined neologism introduced to enable discussion of how multiple poverty-related challenges interact to shape outcomes. It is not tied to a specific country or dataset and is used primarily in theoretical or policy-analysis contexts.

Conceptually, poorsuskoormust comprises material hardship (inability to meet basic needs), liquidity strain, barriers to services (bureaucratic friction, eligibility rules), social stigma, cognitive load from daily management of scarcity, and adverse health effects. Measurement typically uses a composite index combining survey indicators and administrative data, with debates about weighting and cross-cultural validity.

Applications include evaluating anti-poverty programs, targeting aid to interventions that reduce multiple burdens, and informing policy design to ease administrative friction and stigma. It can also help researchers examine how different dimensions of poverty interact to influence education, employment, and health.

Limitations and criticisms focus on potential label bias, data-collection demands, and the risk of conflating distinct concepts such as deprivation and economic stress. The approach requires careful methodological choices to avoid misinterpretation and to ensure comparability across settings.

See also: poverty, deprivation index, economic stress, social exclusion.