Title: Beyond the Price Tag: Deconstructing the Persistence of Material Deprivation in the Shadow of Affordable Goods
Authors: Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Dr. Ariyo Gracious Kazaara
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Pages: 302-309
Publication Date: 2026/01/28
Abstract:
Background: Despite unprecedented declines in consumer goods prices driven by globalization and technological advances, material deprivation remains widespread across diverse socioeconomic contexts, creating a paradox that challenges conventional poverty frameworks focused on price and income levels.Objective: This study examined the persistence of material deprivation amid affordable goods by identifying structural, economic, and social mechanisms that create barriers to consumption beyond retail price considerations, with specific focus on expenditure patterns, income volatility, and market access inequalities.Methods: A mixed-methods convergent parallel design was employed between March and October 2024 across urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. The quantitative component surveyed 420 households recruited through stratified random sampling (sample size calculated for 80% power to detect medium effects at ? = 0.05), measuring income volatility, expenditure patterns, material deprivation indices, and structural barriers through structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression, structural equation modeling (SEM), multinomial logistic regression, and spatial analysis. The qualitative component comprised 36 in-depth interviews analyzed through thematic analysis, with integration occurring through joint displays and narrative weaving.Results: The hierarchical regression model explained 46.8% of variance in material deprivation (F(12, 407) = 36.24, p < 0.001), with non-discretionary expenditure burden (? = 0.26, p < 0.001), income volatility (? = 0.21, p < 0.001), and financial exclusion (? = 0.18, p < 0.001) emerging as strongest predictors. Significant interactions indicated that income volatility effects intensified at higher essential expenditure levels (? = 0.16, p = 0.006). The SEM demonstrated complete mediation of goods affordability effects (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.041), whereby potential benefits of declining prices were entirely offset by indirect pathways through increased non-discretionary burdens (? = 0.08, p = 0.002), income instability (? = 0.05, p = 0.017), and structural barriers (? = 0.09, p = 0.003). Multinomial logistic regression revealed dose-response relationships across deprivation severity levels (Nagelkerke Rē = 0.542), with households facing combined disadvantages of informal employment, housing costs exceeding 40% of income, and financial exclusion showing approximately 29-fold increased odds of severe deprivation. Qualitative findings illuminated lived experiences of financial trade-offs, revealing how unpredictable income streams prevented effective budgeting and how spatial and digital barriers excluded households from affordable goods markets despite nominal accessibility.Conclusions: Material deprivation persisted amid affordable goods through three interconnected mechanisms: escalating non-discretionary expenditure burdens that consumed disproportionate budget shares, income volatility that undermined purchasing capacity regardless of prices, and structural barriers that prevented market access. The same economic forces producing affordable consumer goods-globalization, labor market flexibility, and market efficiency-simultaneously increased essential costs, employment precarity, and access inequalities, creating a two-tiered economy where discretionary goods cheapened while necessities became prohibitively expensive for vulnerable populations. Addressing contemporary poverty requires comprehensive interventions targeting housing affordability, employment security, and market access equity rather than price-focused policies alone, recognizing that material well-being depends on the complex economic landscapes households navigate with constrained resources.