Although the measurement and determinants of poverty have been widely studied, vulnerability, or the threat of future poverty, has been more difficult to investigate due to data paucity.

This set of briefs considers how to increase the tools available to poor households to manage agricultural and health risks.
The focus is how to develop insurance markets, along with other financial instruments such as credit, savings, and social
protection policies. The series does not document the proven impact of insurance markets for the welfare of poor people;

Although many millions of people have exited poverty in recent decades, much of the reduction in poverty has benefited people living close to the poverty line rather than those at the very bottom of the income distribution. This book is not focused on poverty per se but rather is focused on looking particularly at those most deprived in society.