Despite the high trend growth rates, a critical factor that undercut this growth record was the lagging growth in the social sector. In fact, Pakistan's social indicators have lagged behind those countries which have far lower GDP growth and income levels. As a result, the majority of Pakistan's population has not been allowed to participate in either the process or the outcome of growth. The study claims to be the first of its kind in Pakistan. It represents a new approach to determining the levels and trends of poverty.
Past studies suffer from narrowness of focus as well as arbitrariness in methods and measurements.
They have thus tended to offer conflicting measures of poverty. The study aims to rectify this deficiency by supplying a conceptually sound methodology for constructing poverty lines that yields consistent estimates of poverty. Poverty, according to the study, is traditionally defined as insufficient income to meet specific needs. Therefore, if those needs can be defined, one can arrive at some measure of the number of people who fail to meet them. The set of needs may be defined as certain minimum caloric requirements for living, or a basket of basic needs that also includes shelter, energy and apparel or even a more extensive bundle representing certain minimum levels of education, health and social participation.