--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/measuring-economic-insecurity-in-rich-and-poor-nations/" title: "Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T13:17:12+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T13:17:12+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "cross-national" - "developing countries" - "economic insecurity" - "food security" - "IEWB" - "OECD" - "poverty" - "social protection" - "well-being" country_focus: - "Canada" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Economic Well-Being" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/measuring-economic-insecurity-in-rich-and-poor-nations/ # Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2012-03-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Osberg, Lars, and Andrew Sharpe. 2012. “Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations.” CSLS Research Report 2012-03. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/measuring-economic-insecurity-in-rich-and-poor-nations/ ## Authors: - Lars Osberg Department of Economics, Dalhousie University - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2012-03 May 2012 33 pages ## Related research [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Productivity: Key to Economic Success Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) March 1998 | Report 1998-01 | 99 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-key-to-economic-success/) [A Survey of Indicators of Economic and Social Well-being Andrew Sharpe July 1999 | Report 1999-cprn | 72 pages](https://csls.ca/research/a-survey-of-indicators-of-economic-and-social-well-being/) [Raising Canadian Living Standards: A Framework for Discussion Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) October 2002 | Report 2002-td | 56 pages](https://csls.ca/research/raising-canadian-living-standards-a-framework-for-discussion/) [Human Well-being and Economic Well-being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices? 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However, the citizens of poor nations (i.e. most of humanity) typically find both private insurance and public social protection to be largely unavailable – their lives are both poorer and riskier. How can one measure economic insecurity in these very different contexts? Because rich nations have better, more easily available data, Section 2 illustrates the measurement of economic insecurity and its importance to trends in relative economic wellbeing in four affluent OECD countries between 1980 and 2009. Section 3 then uses available data to estimate the level of economic security in approximately 2008 in a comparable way in a broader sample of countries. To reflect better the reality of developing countries, it: (1) includes the volatility of food production in the risk of loss of livelihood; (2) adjusts the risks of health care costs to consider the proportion of household spending on food (which is non-discretionary, and large in poor countries) and (3) adds adult male mortality to the risk of divorce in calculation of the risk of single parent poverty. Section 4 discusses some implications and concludes. Dans les pays riches comme dans les pays pauvres, l’inquiétude face aux risques économiques futurs réduit le bien-être présent des individus, ce qui explique pourquoi les sociétés riches disposent de systèmes complexes d’assurance privée et de protection sociale publique pour atténuer les coûts des risques économiques. Cependant, les citoyens des pays pauvres (c’est-à-dire la majorité de l’humanité) trouvent généralement que l’assurance privée et la protection sociale publique sont largement inaccessibles — leur vie est à la fois plus pauvre et plus risquée. Comment peut-on mesurer l’insécurité économique dans des contextes aussi différents? Étant donné que les pays riches disposent de données plus fiables et plus accessibles, la section 2 illustre la mesure de l’insécurité économique et son importance pour les tendances du bien-être économique relatif dans quatre pays nantis de l’OCDE entre 1980 et 2009. La section 3 utilise ensuite les données disponibles pour estimer le niveau de sécurité économique vers 2008, de façon comparable, dans un échantillon plus large de pays. Afin de mieux refléter la réalité des pays en développement, elle : (1) intègre la volatilité de la production alimentaire dans le risque de perte de moyens de subsistance; (2) ajuste les risques liés aux coûts des soins de santé pour tenir compte de la proportion des dépenses des ménages consacrée à l’alimentation (qui est non discrétionnaire et importante dans les pays pauvres); et (3) ajoute la mortalité masculine adulte au risque de divorce dans le calcul du risque de pauvreté chez les familles monoparentales. La section 4 examine certaines répercussions et conclut le rapport. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2012-03-1.pdf)