Previous Year Question

The Human Poverty Index (HPI) was first introduced in the Human Development Report 1997. It attempted to measure poverty through basic human-development deprivations rather than merely through lack of income.

However, one limitation of the HPI was that it presented deprivations at an aggregate population level and did not adequately reveal how several different deprivations could simultaneously affect the same household or person.

To address this limitation more effectively, the Human Development Report 2010 introduced the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and replaced the HPI.

The MPI was developed through collaboration between the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and UNDP and is based on the Alkire-Foster method.

The Global MPI measures deprivation across three dimensions—

Health
Education
Standard of Living

Across these three dimensions, a total of 10 indicators are used to identify the simultaneous deprivations experienced by a household.

Thus, remember the chronology—

1997 → Human Poverty Index (HPI)
2010 → Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) replaced HPI

The 2010 Human Development Report also introduced the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) as new measures.