Quantifying of objective poverty in the districts of the Banská Bystrica Region (Slovak Republic)

Abstract

Poverty, as a multispectral phenomenon caused by severe material depriving of the population, is now becoming one of the most watched socio-economic phenomena. Its scale and severity continue to increase in social consequences. The aim of the paper is to quantify and visualize the extent and level of poverty risk in the selected districts in Slovakia based on selected indicators and to compare their rates in 2015, 2019, and 2021. The methodology of the pilot case study is based on a multi-criteria assessment of the poverty rate in a statistically unprocessed territorial unit (district) through 19 objective indicators in three domains: socio-demographic, economic performance, and infrastructure. Metfessel allocation, Fuller, and Saaty methods were used for its evaluation. It is gratifying that the at-risk-of-poverty rate expressed by the synthesis of 19 indicators has decreased in all districts. In 2019, the poverty level decreased by 2.61 points (21.17%) compared to 2015 (23.78%). In 2021, the problem worsened again, and the poverty rate increased by 2.03 points to 23.2%. The Banská Bystrica region is characterized by low economic activity, reflected in the second lowest employment and the second highest unemployment rates, where up to 48.5% of the unemployed are under 35. The paper contributes to the growing debates on the inequality in living conditions, poverty, and marginalization, the scale and severity of which continue to increase in social consequences.