A fuzzy hybrid MCDM approach to the evaluation of subjective household poverty

Poverty is one of the most important global socio-economic problems. Despite a strong interest in this phenomenon, there is no unified concept for measuring it. It is difficult to quantify due to the diversity of the dimensions of perceived poverty, particularly subjective ones. Thus, the aim of the research described in the article is to propose a comprehensive procedure for constructing a synthetic measure of subjective poverty in households. This involves aggregating factors describing the present, future, and past, which make it easier to grasp the feeling of deprivation. Methods such as fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy hierarchical analysis (FHA) based on the fuzzy sets theory were used for this purpose, which is not standardly used for this type of research. This innovative procedure was applied to assess the level of subjective household poverty in Poland. The analyses are based on data from primary research carried out in three stages in 2020 using the CAWI method. The results show that the assessment of households’ current socio-economic situation is also influenced by past events as well as projections of future developments. Changes in the values of the synthetic index illustrate the trajectory of switching from panic to negation, and attempting to cope with the situation or, alternatively, switching to a state of irritation. The research results can form the basis for formulating policies and strategies to combat poverty.