Do we need an age specific measure of consensual poverty for older adults? Evidence from the poverty and social exclusion survey.

R esearch on health inequalities among older adults is hampered by the lack of a suitable measure of poverty in this age group. 2 Grundy and Holt have recommended the development of a measure for studying health inequalities in older people, which combines basic living conditions and social customs with household resources. The 1999 poverty and social exclusion omnibus survey (PSEOS) yields data that have been used to devise such a measure based on the consensual approach, that is ‘‘deprivation from goods, services and activities which the majority of the population defines as being the ‘necessities’ of modern life’’. Some exploration of age variations in the perceptions of necessities has been carried out by Gordon et al focusing on differences among 16 to 24 year olds. Here we extend the use of PSEOS data to establish whether older and younger adults agree on consensual measures of poverty.