A Simple Poverty Scorecard for the Dominican Republic

This study uses the Dominican Republic’s 2007 National Household Income and Expenditure Survey to construct an easy-to-use scorecard that estimates the likelihood that a household has expenditure below a given poverty line. The scorecard uses ten simple indicators that field workers can quickly collect and verify. Poverty scores can be computed on paper in the field in five to ten minutes. The scorecard’s accuracy and precision are reported for a range of poverty lines. The poverty scorecard is a practical way for pro-poor programs in the Dominican Republic to measure poverty rates, track changes in poverty rates over time, and target services.