Lack of opportunities, non-paternalism, and priority to the worst off

Abstract This paper presents a novel welfare approach that focuses on and prioritizes the worst-off. It bridges the gap between social welfare functions and poverty measures to provide a new tool for policy analysis. In contrast to social welfare functions, individuals are compared in terms of their lack of opportunities for a decent standard of living. In contrast to poverty measures, the assessment of individuals is non-paternalistic and respects individuals’ views of what constitutes a good life. The characterized social deprivation function is also generalized to differences in household needs.