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CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENT OF THE INCOMES, WEALTH AND ECONOMIC WELL‐BEING OF FARMERS
Author(s) -
Hill Berkeley
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1982.tb00737.x
Subject(s) - economics , poverty , position (finance) , agriculture , aggregate income , capital (architecture) , income shares , labour economics , public economics , income distribution , inequality , economic growth , finance , history , ecology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology , biology
Concern over the incomes of farmers has been a fundamental but ill‐defined component in the agricultural policies of the UK and many other industrialised countries. Attention is drawn to the inability of the UK's annual White Paper aggregate income figure to reveal much of the income position of farm families. Current income from farming is only a partial measure of the potential spending power of farmers: many have off‐farm sources of income which must be taken into account when, for example, assessing poverty and these sources appear to be growing in relative importance. In the longer term, capital gains form part of the returns to landowning farmers but are usually ignored. The frequently‐found combination of low current incomes and great wealth has prompted the use of a measure of economic status which combines the two. A prime requirement appears to be a more precise statement of the aims of income policy and the use of income measures most appropriate to the circumstances.