Latest news with #Gini
IOL News
3 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Why the Gini coefficient remains crucial for understanding inequality
The Gini coefficient is not the full story of inequality in South Africa, but it remains an important chapter. Image: Ron AI THE rubric of robust statistical measures is essential for evaluating policies and plans within the context of democratic governance. A RECENT Sunday Independent article questions the relevance of the Gini coefficient as a measure of inequality in South Africa, describing it as outdated, narrow, and even politically manipulative. It argues that the Gini fails to account for social grants, informal economies, and the growing black middle class, concluding that we must retire it and replace it with a new, locally informed metric. The critique is welcome and necessary. As Statistician-General, I support public scrutiny of the tools we use to measure our society. But I caution against discarding useful instruments because they are imperfect. The Gini coefficient is not the full story of inequality in South Africa, but it remains an important chapter. Developed in the early 20th century, the Gini coefficient is a single statistic that indicates how evenly (or unevenly) income or wealth is distributed. It is widely used by national and international bodies, especially in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 10, which focuses on reducing inequalities. This commitment is reflected in Agenda 2063, the African Union's (AU's) socio-economic transformation plan. It is embedded in South Africa's National Development Plan (NDP), which aims to reduce our Gini from 0.69 to 0.60 by 2030. The article makes a valid point: inequality is complex, and no single measure can capture it all. The Gini does not reflect the value of the 'social wage' — free education, healthcare, grants, housing subsidies — and may undercount informal economic activity. But it is not meant to measure everything. It is one tool among many, and it tells us something important: South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, even if we have made real progress in reducing poverty. As a statistician, I use it as part of my statistical toolkit. Statistical measures are essential for data analysis and informed decision-making, revealing patterns and trends. In his 2005 paper, Aziz Othman emphasises that effective policies rely on quality data. There is a growing shift among governments and organisations from opinion-based to evidence-based policy, underscoring the need for credible statistical analysis in policy formulation. National statistical agencies in the United Kingdom and Australia also produce Gini coefficient statistics relevant to their contexts. This highlights the importance of continuous monitoring of income inequality and the integration of statistical methods into policymaking, as discussed in Othman's paper. With more than 30 years of experience in producing official statistics at both national and continental levels, I have come to understand that poverty and inequality are complex issues that span social, economic, and political dimensions. This complexity shows that a single measure cannot fully capture these challenges. Thus, using various statistical methods is essential. Statistics SA (Stats SA) employs three main approaches to assess poverty: traditional money-metric measures based on national poverty lines, multidimensional methods like the SA Multidimensional Poverty Index (Sampi) and Child Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (Moda), along with subjective assessments that reflect personal views of poverty. Similarly, in analysing inequality, the Gini coefficient is but one of several metrics used by Stats SA to quantify economic disparities. Additional indicators include inequality experts Henri Theil's indices, Anthony Atkinson's indices, and Alex Sumner's Palma ratio. Each of these measures possesses distinct strengths and weaknesses, yet all are widely recognised and used by National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and scholars globally to elucidate the structure and magnitude of inequality within a nation. It is important to note that the Gini coefficient facilitates understanding income and expenditure distributions across households rather than functioning as an all-encompassing indicator of inequality, contrary to what the article may imply. Furthermore, additional measures based on asset data, service delivery data, and labour market information produced by Stats SA are also useful for understanding the broader issue of inequality beyond economic indicators such as the Gini coefficient. The simplest approach to measuring income inequality involves segmenting the population or households into quintiles, ranging from the poorest to the richest, and analysing the distribution of income or expenditure across these segments. Recent Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) results indicate that about 75% of white-headed households are within the upper income quintile. Conversely, nearly half (45.1%) of black African-headed households fall within the lowest two quintiles in terms of income. Similar trends are observed in expenditure, where about 45.3% of black African-headed households are also categorised within the bottom two expenditure quintiles. This data underscores the significant disparities in economic status between these demographic groups. The findings illustrate a significant disparity in income and expenditure per capita, clearly highlighting the entrenched income inequality in South Africa, particularly affecting black African-headed households. Notably, nearly 57% of households within the lowest income quintile are female-headed. However, this proportion diminishes across the quintiles, with 49.5% of the second quintile, 42.9% in the third, 34.5% in the fourth, and only 33.5% in the upper quintile. This decreasing representation of female-headed households in higher quintiles underscores the persistent issue of gender inequality within the socio-economic landscape. South Africa has extensive survey data on individual and household welfare from Stats SA, which offers various indicators of poverty and inequality.
Time of India
4 days ago
- General
- Time of India
What life is like inside Hong Kong's cramped 'coffin homes' housing over 200,000 people
Imagine living in a home that measures just 15 to 18 square feet. You pay £217 a month for it. Stretch your arms, and you can touch both walls. Lie down, and your feet meet clutter. Privacy? Gone. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Ventilation? Barely. Now imagine this isn't a nightmare or a prison cell—it's home. For over 200,000 people in Hong Kong, this isn't a metaphor. It's their everyday reality inside what the world has come to know as 'coffin homes.' These aren't homes in the traditional sense. They are wooden or metal boxes stacked like filing cabinets, hidden within decaying towers in Hong Kong's forgotten corners. Some are subdivided flats chopped into 26 'units' no larger than a dog kennel. A flickering lightbulb, a fan struggling in the sweltering heat, a mattress, a TV covered in wires—this is what £217 buys in the world's most unaffordable housing market. YouTuber Drew Binsky called it 'the sad reality of life in HK' after documenting one such property. He's right. But sad doesn't even begin to cover it. 'A city of two realities' Walk the streets of Mid-Levels or Victoria Peak, and you'll find pristine towers, luxury malls, and the kind of opulence that glimmers. But turn a corner into Sham Shui Po or Mong Kok, and it's a different Hong Kong altogether. Behind rusty gates and chipped stairwells lie the coffin homes—often with no natural light, no windows, no proper sanitation. Source: X/@ThereWillBStars Many residents keep their sliding doors open, not out of choice but necessity. Without airflow, these cells become suffocating ovens. Bugs crawl through cracks. The air smells of dampness, old food, and despair. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Toilets, shared by dozens, are often infested and barely cleaned. Yet within these tight quarters, elderly pensioners, delivery workers, and even full-time employees find shelter. It's all they can afford. The inequality is staggering. Hong Kong has ranked as the world's least affordable city for 14 straight years, and the Gini coefficient—a measure of income disparity—is among the highest globally. One man pays thousands for a mountain-view penthouse. Another sleeps inches from a stranger behind a plywood wall. Coffins with a past, and a plan for the future The story of coffin homes isn't new. Their origin traces back to the late 1950s, when migrants from mainland China arrived in droves. Employers often provided accommodation—metal bunk beds enclosed in chicken-wire fencing. Some of these "caged homes" still exist today, relics of a past that never fully left. Over time, what began as temporary housing morphed into a permanent solution for the working poor and elderly. But the health consequences are severe. Cramped and often unhygienic, these spaces worsen physical and mental illness. Depression, anxiety, and respiratory diseases are common. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing was a cruel joke; many buildings housed six times their intended capacity. Source: X/@ThereWillBStars The United Nations once called these conditions 'an insult to human dignity.' The Hong Kong government, under pressure, has vowed to eliminate coffin homes by 2049. Promises include 308,000 new public housing units over the next decade. Since mid-2022, around 49,000 people have been relocated. But progress is slow, and for the man curled up in a wooden box tonight, the year 2049 may as well be a century away. The forgotten fortress There's an eerie resemblance between today's coffin homes and the long-gone Kowloon Walled City. Once the most densely populated place on Earth, it crammed 50,000 people into 6.4 acres—a vertical labyrinth of lawlessness. Narrow alleys, towering blocks, and no governance. A city within a city. The Walled City was demolished in the 1990s, but its ghost lives on. You can still feel its echo in the crowded tenements and flickering hallways of Hong Kong's poorest districts. History, as they say, repeats itself—especially when no one's listening. So, the next time you look at a skyline glittering in postcards, remember: behind every light, there may be a box. Behind every box, a story. And behind every story, a human being waiting for more than just space—they're waiting to be seen.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
With poverty levels now at historic lows, a need to revisit food and fertiliser subsidies
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes 11 years in office, it's time for a stocktaking of his government's achievements at the macro level, and a framing of the challenges that lie ahead. For comparison, we also look at the UPA government's record from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, when PM Modi assumed office, India's nominal GDP stood at $2.04 trillion, up from $709 billion in 2004 when the UPA came to power. This was a jump of 2.8 times in 10 years. This year, India's economy is likely to be $4.19 trillion – it has almost doubled in 11 years. India is poised to become the fourth-largest economy globally, just behind the US ($30.5 trillion), China ($19.2 trillion) and Germany ($4.74 trillion). Yet, the nominal GDP in US dollars tells only a part of the story. A more appropriate criterion to measure the economic welfare of people will be to look at GDP and per capita income in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms — what a US dollar can buy in a country. In PPP terms, India's progress has been remarkable: From $2.75 trillion in 2004 to $6.45 trillion in 2014, and soaring to $17.65 trillion in 2025. This positions India as the world's third-largest economy in PPP terms, behind China ($40.72 trillion) and the US ($30.51 trillion). However, national aggregates can obscure individual well-being. Evaluating people's welfare and quality of life requires measuring per capita income in PPP terms. India's per capita income (in PPP terms) rose from $2,424.2 in 2004 to $4,935.5 in 2014 and now stands at $12,131.8 in 2025. This improvement corresponds with India's improved global ranking on this criteria —from 181st in 2004, to 166th in 2014, and 149th in 2025. However, despite this progress, India still ranks lowest among G20 countries in both per capita GDP ($2,878) and PPP terms ($12,131.8). China's per capita income (in PPP) stands at $28,978. The US leads with $89,105. Closer home, India trails even Sri Lanka ($14,970) and Bhutan ($17,735), though it remains ahead of Pakistan ($6,950.5) and Bangladesh ($10,261.1) in 2025 (IMF). Nevertheless, the macroeconomic milestones are indeed impressive and India needs to stay the course. But there is always one question associated with such macro trends: How far is this growth inclusive? The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has shown only modest shifts over the past two decades. In 2004, it was 0.34, in 2014 it edged up slightly to 0.35 and dropped to 0.33 in 2021, indicating moderate inequality in India, according to the World Bank. For inclusive growth, the performance of agriculture — employing the largest share of the workforce (46.1 per cent in 2023–24, according to PLFS) — is crucial. Despite consecutive droughts in 2014–15 and 2015–16, agriculture GDP under the Modi government grew at an average annual rate of 4 per cent (FY15–FY25), surpassing the 3.5 per cent (FY05–FY14) growth under the UPA tenure — which also witnessed a major drought in 2009–10. On the welfare front, the Modi government has spent a lot of resources to uplift the poor and farming community — this includes almost-free staples, rice or wheat, subsidised housing, and supporting farmers with the PM-KISAN direct income support scheme, and a near freeze on urea prices. All this has led to a sharp reduction in extreme poverty (head count ratio) at $3 per day (2021 PPP) — from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to just 5.3 per cent in 2022. The 80 per cent drop marks one of the fastest and most significant fall in poverty that India has achieved in any period since 1977. Even when measured against the higher poverty line threshold of $4.20/day for low middle-income countries, poverty had dropped from 57.7 per cent in 2011 to 23.9 per cent by 2022, representing a steep 60 per cent decline in just a decade (see infographics). This unprecedented acceleration in poverty reduction is one of the biggest achievements of the Modi government on the economic front. With poverty levels now at historic lows, there may be a need to revisit some of the major policies to plug loopholes and promote efficiency and sustainability. We look at food and fertiliser subsidies, as they claim the largest resources in the agri-food space and yet give sub-optimal results. The food subsidy budget for FY26 is slated to be Rs 2.03 lakh crore. India is giving free food (rice or wheat, 5kg/person/month) to more than 800 million people. With extreme poverty falling to just 5.3 per cent, there is a need to rationalise this food subsidy by giving beneficiaries food coupons (digital wallet) to buy nutritious food — pulses, milk, eggs — from designated stores. The value of food coupons for the bottom, say 15 per cent of the population, could be Rs 700/family/month, and this amount can come down to Rs 500/family/month based on the income of the identified beneficiaries. This will help plug leakages, diversify diets, promote nutrition, and diversify the production basket. Similar rationalisation is needed for fertiliser subsidy, which is slated to claim another Rs 1.56 lakh crore in FY26. This can be done by giving fertiliser coupons to farmers and deregulating the prices of fertiliser products. Farmers can use these coupons to buy chemical fertilisers or bio-fertilisers or do natural farming. The imbalanced use of N, P, and K can be corrected, leakages plugged and innovations in products and practices promoted, only if the government deregulates this sector. This task is overdue, and if the Modi government can do it now, it will help streamline the agri-food sector to a large extent. The Modi government can reap rich dividends in terms of saving financial resources, higher efficiency in the use of fertilisers, less dependence on imports, and less environmental degradation, especially of soil, water and air. The government would need to identify tenant farmers. The task also requires triangulation of several sets of data, and communicating with farmers in advance and earning their trust. This is a political exercise, which must precede policy change. No one else is a better communicator in the political sphere today than the Prime Minister himself. Gulati is Distinguished Professor and Juneja is a Research Fellow at ICRIER. Views are personal
San Francisco Chronicle
19-06-2025
- Science
- San Francisco Chronicle
How changing ocean colors could impact California
Earth's oceans have been getting greener at the poles and becoming bluer closer to the equator, according to a study published Thursday in Science. The shift reflects changes in marine ecosystems, which experts say could affect fish populations and create problems for fisheries, including in California. 'It has lots of potential implications for the way we use the ocean,' said Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, who wasn't part of the new study. The scientists analyzed satellite data from 2003 to 2022 to track ocean concentrations of chlorophyll, a green pigment that phytoplankton use to absorb sunlight and produce sugars. While phytoplankton are often associated with harmful algal blooms, they are also the base of the marine food web, serving as food for fish and other sea creatures. Ocean regions with the highest concentrations of chlorophyll, or the greenest areas, were at higher latitudes, toward the poles. Mid-latitudes had relatively low levels of chlorophyll, or were more blue. The authors tracked global shifts in chlorophyll concentrations, a proxy for phytoplankton populations, over recent decades. The authors associated the poleward 'greening' with increasing sea-surface temperatures. 'This uneven distribution of chlorophyll (has been) intensifying over the past 20 years,' said lead author Haipeng Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Zhao performed the research while at Duke University. The scientists quantified the trend using the Gini index, a measure typically used for studying wealth disparities. Kudela, of UC Santa Cruz, described the approach as 'a very elegant way' to address the question of whether ocean waters have been getting greener toward the poles. The new study analyzed open ocean waters; researchers didn't directly address coastal regions, like the Pacific Ocean waters offshore of California. Sediment in shallow coastal waters complicates satellite data: 'We don't think there's an effective algorithm that can accurately gather the phytoplankton concentrations in those coastal regions,' Zhao said. Coastal waters and the open ocean also experience distinct physical processes, Zhao explained. Kudela expects that the poleward shift in chlorophyll and phytoplankton described by the authors extends to the California coast, though the data could be noisier. Much of California lines up with latitudes associated with ocean waters that have gotten bluer over recent decades. Latitudes north of roughly Humboldt Bay have gotten greener. Scientists have already observed changes in marine environments: 'We're seeing organisms in California and Oregon and Washington moving northward because they're basically trying to follow their preferred temperature,' said Kudela, who authored a perspective accompanying the new study. Kudela noted in the perspective that the new results contrast with those of a 2023 study, which reported that oceans have become greener at low latitudes in recent decades and that the trend wasn't associated with sea-surface temperatures. That analysis, however, used a different type of satellite observation. El Niño conditions, associated with warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures, have provided short glimpses into what California waters could be like if global oceans warm, Kudela said. 'We oftentimes see the peak anchovy abundance shifts from Central California (and) Monterey up into Northern California,' Kudela said. Yellowfin tuna and dorado, normally found off Mexico, are more common off Southern California during El Niño years. The authors write that additional decades of satellite data are needed to determine whether poleward greening is a product of natural variability or driven by climate change.
The Wire
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Wire
How Many Thalis Indians Can Afford – and What That Says About Their Standard of Living
In 2014, during the campaign for the elections to the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that 'Achche din aane waale hain (Good times are to come)' for Indians, assuming, naturally, his party would be forming the low levels of material consumption, good times for most people would be associated with a rise in consumption. The publication earlier this year of the National Sample Survey's (NSS's) Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24 (HCES 2024), based on a survey conducted between August 2023 and July 2024, provides an opportunity to assess whether a faster rate of growth of consumption has indeed been of consumptionIn Table 1 are presented the growth rates of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) since 2011, the year of the last consumption survey of the previous decade. .Table 1: The growth of monthly per capita consumption expenditureRuralUrbanYearTotal growthCAGRTotal GrowthCAGR2004-05 to 2011-1235.67%4.45%35.14%4.40%2011-12 to 2023-2445.38%3.17%38.10%2.73%Notes: CAGR is the average annual growth rate. Authors' calculation from HCES 2024. Expenditure is at 2011-12 prices. The data point to a substantial decline in growth rate of consumption after 2011 for the urban population and a significant one for the rural. This should be kept in mind while reading reports of the buoyancy of India's economy, notably the feature that it is currently the fastest growing major economy of the world. The slowing of consumption growth is not surprising, given the slowing of the rate of growth of the economy across almost all its sectors during the past conclusion would be that that while consumption has continued to grow in India, the rate of growth has actually slowed. Economic policies adopted since 2014 have not been able to raise it. The 'good times', as reflected by the growth of consumption, have not come any faster than they have been coming before read: Why India Needs to Update Its Own Poverty LineInequalityThe consumption shares of the top 10% and bottom 50% of the population for three years, enabling a study of its change over time, are presented in Table 2. While there is growth in inequality in the first of the two sub-periods represented, there is an improvement in the second one, which covers a decade after 2014. This improvement is notable only for the urban section of the bottom 50%, though. The reduction of consumption inequality since 2011-12 is also borne out by the Gini coefficient presented in HCES 2024. Despite the improvement recorded, inequality remains high when the share of the bottom 50% is compared to that of the top 10%.It may be mentioned that the distribution of consumption revealed by HCES 24 is less unequal than that of the distribution of income in India published by the Paris-based World Inequality Lab. Also, the latter source presents data showing an increase in income inequality during the same period. These divergent trends are not necessarily contradictory, however, as for any given increase in income across the population consumption may be expected to rise more at the lower levels of 2: Inequality (consumption shares)2004-052011-122023-24RuralUrbanRuralUrbanRuralUrbanTop 10%.23.26.25.30.21.24Bottom 50%.33.28.31.26.33.31Source: Authors' calculation from HCES standard of living: A thali indexAs we have seen, there has been growth of consumption in India since 2014 and a reduction in its inequality . But what can be said of the standard of living implied by the level of consumption today?We evaluate the standard of living based on a specific metric, the number of thalis afforded. This is arrived at by translating the daily per capita expenditure on food into the number of thali meals that it would have commanded in the year of the survey, 2023-24, across the population. We consider the choice of the thali meal as a measure of the standard of living as intuitive, for it represents a recognisable unit of food intake across the country, even if the exact term for it may vary. We adopt two thali meals a day as the minimum acceptable standard of this raises the question of the price of a thali to be used in estimating the real value of consumption A ready source of this information is the rating and analytics agency Crisil, which publishes the average cost of preparing a thali at home, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east and west India. For a vegetarian thali in 2023-24 it came to approximately Rs 30 on average over the year. The cost of preparing a non-vegetarian thali in that year was reported as Rs value of food consumption, termed 'MPCE with imputation' by the NSS, used here includes purchases from the public distribution system, the imputed value of supplies 'received free of cost by the households through various Social Welfare Schemes', 'cooked food received free in workplace' and 'cooked food received as assistance'. While data on the last two items are available in HCES 2024, the value of free supplies of food had to be calculated. The data sources for this item are listed at the bottom of Tables 3 and of the number of thali meals per day afforded across the population are presented, for rural and urban India, respectively, in Tables 3 and 3: The thali index of consumption, Rural IndiaFractilesMonthly per capita expenditure on food with imputation (Rs.)Daily per capita expenditure on food with imputation (Rs.)Number of vegetarian thalis affordedNumber of non-vegetarian thalis afforded 0-5%1060.3635.351.180.615-10%1281.1542.711.420.7410-20%1444.1648.141.600.8320-30%1609.4653.651.790.9230-40%1755.1358.501.951.0140-50%1901.7463.392.111.0950-60%2043.0268.102.271.1760-70%2217.4073.912.461.2770-80%2428.5880.952.701.4080-90%2735.5991.193.041.5790-95%3101.35103.383.451.7895-100%3876.47129.224.312.23Notes: Authors' calculation from Table A10F of HCES 2024 and estimate of the real value of consumption of food serves as guide to the standard of living of the population at large . In 2023-24 in rural India, up to 40% of the population could not afford two vegetarian thalis a day, up to 95% of the population could not afford two non-vegetarian thalis a day, and up to 80% could not afford the combination of one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian thali at a total cost of Rs 88 a day. In the same year in urban India, up to 10% of the population could not afford two vegetarian thalis a day, up to 80% could not afford two non-vegetarian thalis, and up to 50% could not afford the combination of one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian thali a day. Food deprivation, at least in rural India, is more widespread than it is 4: The thali index of consumption, Urban IndiaFractilesMonthly per capita expenditure on food with imputation (Rs.)Daily per capita expenditure on food with imputation (Rs.)Number of vegetarian thalis affordedNumber of non-vegetarian afforded0-5%1344.5144.821.490.775-10%1656.7555.221.840.9510-20%1895.5563.192.111.0920-30%2145.9071.532.381.2330-40%2350.3178.342.611.3540-50%2572.2085.742.861.4850-60%2775.9292.533.081.6060-70%3061.41102.053.401.7670-80%3370.61112.353.751.9480-90%3873.95129.134.302.2390-95%4475.68149.194.972.5795-100%5984.70199.496.653.44Source: Authors' calculation from Table A10F of HCES 2023-24 and the analysis of aggregated data, ethnographic studies of the labour process and journalistic reportage from the field all have value in furthering our understanding of the standard of living in India. Some studies of this kind already exist, including by Anumeha Yadav and T. recent poverty estimates for India reflect the standard of living?The publication of HCES 2024 elicited poverty estimates for India from diverse sources, among them the State Bank of India and World Bank. These mostly follow the practice of establishing a poverty line based on consumption possibilities. The poverty line identifies the purchasing power needed to satisfy the daily calorie intake deemed necessary. The proportion of the population with consumption expenditure less than the poverty line is classified as 'poor'.However, it would be agreed upon, we assume, that a measure of the standard of living in terms of tangible goods afforded would yet be useful to have. This was the motivation that guided the adoption of a thali index of consumption by us. The resulting estimates of the level of consumption across the population provide perspective on the estimates of poverty in India that have followed the publication of the HCES 2024. Among them, the one from the State Bank of India shows poverty to be less than 5% in both rural and urban India. As seen above, the thali index of the standard of living, on the other hand, points to higher levels of food deprivation based on the standard of two thalis per day as the minimum acceptable food read: Reality Check: Beyond Statistics, is Poverty Actually Reducing in India?This difference very likely arises because poverty studies tend to assume that households or individuals are free to spend all their income on food. The assumption is untenable, as some items of expenditure – such as on health, education, housing, transportation and communication (read mobile phone) – assume priority, for expenditure on them is needed to engage in economic activity. This circumstance could effect a squeeze on expenditure on food, which along with the price of food determines actual consumption households may have to eat less to secure their livelihood. So, starting out with the actual expenditure on food and translating it into a measure of command over food is, in our view, realistic. The relevance of such an approach may be understood by noting the following. The estimates of poverty in the SBI report are based on an updation of the Tendulkar poverty line for 2011-12 by applying the subsequent inflation rate. Through this procedure, its authors arrive at monthly poverty lines of Rs 1,632 for rural areas and Rs 1,944 for urban areas in 2023-24. We can see from Tables 5 and 6, respectively, that these expenditure levels would not have translated into two vegetarian thalis per person daily for up to 30 % of the rural population and 20% of the urban in that year. Of course, this is assuming that the income implied by the poverty line is entirely on food.A second set of poverty estimates, using data from the HCES 2023, however, has been published by the World Bank this April. They are even more optimistic than those from the State Bank of India, pegging 'extreme poverty' at 2.8% for rural India and 1.1% for urban India. We leave it to readers to compare these poverty estimates with the estimates of the standard of living in India in 2023-24 using the thali findings using a thali index of the standard of living suggests that there is a case for reviewing the measurement of poverty in India. For a start, we would argue for a poverty measure that includes at least two thali meals a day. In this context, we refer to the emerging practice of viewing poverty as multidimensional. This is both useful and an improvement over the focus hitherto on income poverty. However, a declining multidimensional poverty based on an index that comprises up to 12 indicators of deprivation can mask a persisting food deprivation, which in our view must remain at the core of appraising the standard of living, and thus estimates presented here indicate that the levels of poverty as food deprivation in India are likely higher compared to the estimates based on the extant approach to the measurement of income poverty. The unit price of food used to arrive at feasible food consumption is central to this exercise. Our study points to the salience of the price of food for the standard of living in India, a factor which receives far too little attention from policy makers but will remain crucial to the solution to the problem of poverty in of this article were previously published on Ideas for India. Pulapre Balakrishnan is Honorary Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram and Aman Raj is Teaching Fellow, Krea University, Sri City. We thank Aditya Bhattacharjea, Mahendra Dev, Udaya Shankar Mishra, P.C. Mohanan, M. Parameswaran, Indira Rajaraman, Preeti Sampat and Rishi Vyas for advice and discussion. Errors if any would be ours.
