101 Journal of Poverty and Social Justice • vol 31 • no 1 • 101–127 • © Policy Press 2023 Print ISSN 1759-8273 • Online ISSN 1759-8281 • https://doi.org/10.1332/175982721X16644668262304 Accepted for publication 29 September 2022 • First published online 18 November 2022 research article The use of the consensual approach for the improvement of existing multidimensional poverty data in Latin America: an illustration based on data from the City of Buenos Aires Luis Beccaria, labeccari@gmail.com Ana Laura Fernández, analaurafer@gmail.com Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina Héctor Nájera, hecatalan@hotmail.com Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México This article aims at contributing to the current literature on poverty data limitations and measurement by discussing the process for producing the frst multidimensional poverty measure based on the consensual approach for the City of Buenos Aires. The results show a remarkable level of consensus about the necessities of life in the twenty-frst century, underline the importance of generating more suitable indicators of deprivation and show that unmet basic needs-type variables are no longer adequate for measuring poverty in countries like Argentina. According to the valid and reliable poverty index, 20.3% of the city’s population live in households in multidimensionally poor households, this being the social dimension that shows the highest deprivation rate. Key words multidimensional poverty • poverty measures • consensual approach To cite this article: Beccaria, L., Fernández, A.L., and Nájera, H. (2023) The use of the consensual approach for the improvement of existing multidimensional poverty data in Latin America: an illustration based on data from the City of Buenos Aires, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 31(1): 101–127, DOI: 10.1332/175982721X16644668262304 Introduction Multidimensional poverty (MDP) measurement research has a long track record in Latin America (LA) (Boltvinik, 2013). During the 1980s, the unmet basic needs (UBN) approach has underpinned most indices in the region. Using census data, estimations were produced based on indicators that proxied lacking a limited group of basic needs (particularly access to water, sanitation and conditions of the dwelling and, in some cases, access to primary education). Unauthenticated | Downloaded 02/23/23 03:05 PM UTC