Poverty is understood as inequality in access to development opportunities, with a human rights focus. Poverty and inequity are expressions of social and economic exclusion in people. Therefore, regardless of where people live, to impact poverty, it is necessary to offer minimum subsistence services (food, security, shelter), access to basic social services, and capabilities, so that individuals can consciously and freely choose life options. In other words, it is necessary to go beyond providing decent income, which, while a key condition, is not the only one for achieving well-being. Likewise, poverty is experienced differently based on gender, age, ethnic-racial background, or place of residence. The experiences of poverty are different for an older adult woman living in a rural area of the country compared to a young person outside the education system and employed in the informal sector, although they share common elements.

The proportion of Dominicans living in income poverty (around 152 Dominican pesos per day) fell sharply from 42.2 % in 2012 to 30.5 % in 2016 (from 33.2% to 25% over the same period using the international threshold of USD 4 per day), thereby returning to the level seen before 2003, the year in which a severe financial crisis created one million people living in poverty, raising the income poverty rate to 49.9%. Inequality is a major challenge, as the poorest 20% have access to only 4.9% of total income. In 2015, the population considered vulnerable—those earning between 4 and 10 USD in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)—stood at 45.3%, indicating that social gains are susceptible to change in the face of adverse events or shocks of various kinds.

In order to delve deeper into the various dimensions that affect people's well-being, the IDDI is based on the multidimensional poverty index developed in the Dominican Republic to complement income-based poverty measurement. The aim of this index is to strengthen social interventions and evaluate their results both in poverty reduction (by the number of people in poverty) and in its intensity (number of deprivations of access).

Some of the most relevant dimensions for calculating multidimensional poverty indices, and therefore areas in which the IDDI focuses its work, are the following: