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Why is it that, in spite of sustained and rapid economic growth in the developed countries during most of the postwar period and in spite of increasing public expenditure on income maintenance programmes, poverty appears to have been surprisingly persistent in those countries. This phenomenon has inevitably given rise to much public discussion in recent years, and in this contribution to the discussion Wilfred Beckerman presents comparative estimates of the level of poverty in four typical developed market economy countries (Australia, Belgium, Norway, United kingdom), both before and after the transfer of benefits under income maintenance programmes, and suggests new concepts of measurement of the `efficiency` of those programmes in reducing poverty. His findings, and his examination of the policy consideration affecting the prospects for poverty reduction in the future, will be of interest to a wide audience of social scientists and social security planners and, more generally, to all persons ingovernmental, employer and worker circles who are concerned about the effectiveness of programmes to eradicate poverty.
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