Income-Based Poverty among Non-Farm Households in Rural Punjab

Abstract

This paper focuses upon the magnitude of income-based poverty among non-farm households in rural Punjab. Based on the primary survey, a sample of 440 rural non-farm households were taken from 44 sampled villages located in all 22 districts of Punjab.The poverty was estimated on the basis of income level. For measuring poverty, various methods/criteria (Expert Group Criteria, World Bank Method and State Per Capita Income Criterion) were used. On the basis of Expert Group Income criterion, overall, less than one-third of the persons of rural non-farm household categories are observed to be poor. On the basis, 40 percent State Per Capita Income Criteria, around three-fourth of the persons of all rural non-farm household categories are falling underneath poverty line. Similarly, the occurrence of the poverty, on the basis of 50 percent State Per Capita Income Criteria, showed that nearly four-fifths of the persons are considered to be poor. As per World Bank’s $ 1.90 per day, overall, less than one-fifth of rural non-farm household persons are poor. Slightly, less than one-fourth of the persons are belonging to self-employment category, while, slightly, less than one-tenth falling in-service category. On the basis of $ 3.10 per day criteria, overall, less than two-fifth persons of all rural non-farm household categories were living below the poverty line.