A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Timor-Leste

This study uses Timor-Leste’s 2007 Survey of Living Standards 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 agents 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. Poverty scoring is a practical way for pro-poor programs in Timor-Leste to estimate poverty rates, to track changes in poverty rates over time, and to target services.

[Author's abstract]