Poverty is not just about financial distress. It is about not affording to provide decent housing for the family. It is about young people missing on education and skills enhancement opportunities because they need to enter the workplace urgently to earn some money.

It is about working long hours to make ends meet. It is about not being able to source the best physical and mental health facilities.

Politicians, bureaucrats and many academics measure well-being in terms of economic growth and per capita income. They often overlook the income gap that has grown wider in society over the past few decades. This is now beginning to change.

Last year, the three economists  awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences were Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer. These academics used randomised controlled trials to make the world understand some of the ways that could help win the war against poverty in its different dimensions.

Traditional western economists seem to be influenced more by theory and hunches rather than evidence on how to wage war against poverty. This is changing as more empirical work on how to improve people’s quality of life is becoming mainstream research.

The Church has always had a social mission. The present pope is arguably the most influential leader in promoting the value of the person before that of economic wealth. The Maltese Church’s report ‘Beyond GDP’ is a welcome development that should inspire our political leaders to refocus their actions on improving the quality of life of people rather than concentrate on traditional economic metrics.

The root causes of poverty are varied. The poverty trap is a reality that needs to be addressed and not considered as an inevitable consequence of progress. Admittedly, the lives of thousands of families have improved in the last few decades as a result of better education, an inflow of investment and the globalisation of trade.

Sadly, many other families have been marginalised because of distressful personal circumstances, physical and mental health challenges or because they fell through the cracks of the social support system. A fair society can never accept that those living in poverty in its various aspects should be condemned to pass this distressing legacy to their children.

The ‘Beyond GDP’ report used the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) framework for addressing the different aspects of poverty. The income and wealth gap is a critical element in measuring well-being. But just as important are other elements like educational attainment and the abi­lity to live in harmony with a healthy environment free from pollution, excessive noise and rural and urban degradation.

The Church’s initiative is also in line with a European Commission drive by the same name, which started back in 2007, to develop indicators beyond GDP that include environmental, social and health aspects of progress.

It is time for political leaders to commit themselves to a long-term strategy on improving the quality of life of the community. This needs to go beyond platitudes, sound bites and polished comments made on social media. Business leaders, health and education policymakers and community leaders need to be roped into a national effort to ensure that this and future generations benefit from a broader approach to wealth creation.

The war against poverty is not the impossible dream of do-good philanthropists. It is what should distinguish us as a caring community from a self-centred, egoistical conglomerate of individuals.

Our political leaders now need to articulate their plans on how we may win the war against poverty in its broad definition.