7-Sep-2020: Press Note on Global Multidimensional Poverty Index and India

NITI Aayog as the nodal agency has been assigned the responsibility of leveraging the monitoring mechanism of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to drive reforms. Global MPI is part of Government of India’s decision to monitor the performance of the country in 29 select Global Indices. The objective of the “Global Indices to Drive Reforms and Growth (GIRG)” exercise is to fulfil the need to measure and monitor India’s performance on various important social and economic parameters and enable the utilisation of these Indices as tools for self-improvement, bring about reforms in policies, while improving last-mile implementation of government schemes. The Cabinet Secretary had earlier in July organised a workshop with all the nodal agencies where he also emphasized the need for regular engagement with Publishing Agencies.

Global MPI is an international measure of multidimensional poverty covering 107 developing countries and was first developed in 2010 by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for UNDP’s Human Development Reports. The Global MPI is released at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development of the United Nations in July, every year.

Global MPI is computed by scoring each surveyed household on 10 parameters based on -nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and household assets. It utilises the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) which is conducted under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). According to Global MPI 2020, India is 62nd among 107 countries with an MPI score of 0.123 and 27.91% headcount ratio, based on the NFHS 4 (2015/16) data. Neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka (25th), Bhutan (68th), Nepal (65th), Bangladesh (58th), China (30th), Myanmar (69th) and Pakistan (73rd) are also ranked in this index (we can pick and choose the countries). The latest NFHS 5 (2019/20) is set to see remarkable national improvement brought about by focused schemes and interventions in these parameters since NFHS 4, especially in sanitation, cooking fuel, housing, drinking water and electricity. The survey has been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Nodal agency for the MPI, NITI Aayog has constituted a Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC). The MPICC, chaired by Ms. Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser (SDG) has members from relevant Line Ministries and Departments, namely Ministry/ Department of Power, WCD, Telecommunication, MoSPI, Rural Development, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Food & Public Distribution, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Education, Housing & Urban Affairs, Health & Family Welfare, and Financial Services. These Ministries/ Departments have been mapped to the ten parameters of the index. Experts from OPHI and UNDP, as the publishing agency, have also been onboarded for their technical expertise. The inaugural meeting of the MPICC was held on 2 September 2020. Preparation of a MPI Parameter Dashboard to rank States and UTs, and a State Reform Action Plan (SRAP) are at an advanced stage of development. The MPICC will next be organising a workshop with representatives of States and UTs for taking the SRAP forward.

7-Feb-2020: Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Report

The  information regarding Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Report are available in the public domain (https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/global-mpi-2019/ and http://hdr.undp.org/en/2019-MPI). The report observes that in India, there were 271 million fewer people in poverty in 2016 than in 2006, which shows improvement in status. The report noted that of the 10 selected countries for which changes over time were analysed, India and Cambodia reduced their Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) values the fastest—and they did not leave the poorest groups behind.

The Government of India accords high priority to the issue of poverty alleviation in India. Ministry of Women and Child Development has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to eradicate malnutrition. Several schemes with direct as well as indirect interventions to address the problem of malnutrition among women and children are being implemented as direct targeted interventions across the country like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme. These schemes are universal and open to all the eligible beneficiaries. Further, Government has set up POSHAN Abhiyaan on 18.12.2017 commencing from 2017-18. The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of children from 0-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets.

11-Jul-2019: Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2019

The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data and publication "Illuminating Inequalities" released on 11 July 2019 shed light on the number of people experiencing poverty at regional, national and subnational levels, and reveal inequalities across countries and among the poor themselves.

Jointly developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford, the 2019 global MPI offers data for 101 countries, covering 76 percent of the global population.

The MPI provides a comprehensive and in-depth picture of global poverty – in all its dimensions – and monitors progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 – to end poverty in all its forms. It also provides policymakers with the data to respond to the call of Target 1.2, which is to ‘reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definition'.

The publication “Illuminating Inequalities” previews ongoing research into trends over time for a group of countries including Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Peru. SDG target 10.1 calls for tracking the progress of the bottom 40 percent of the population compared with that of the total population – the publication includes case studies and a detailed analysis of the growth of those furthest behind – the ‘bottom 40%’.

Key findings

• Across 101 countries, 1.3 billion people—23.1 percent—are multidimensionally poor.
• Two-thirds of multidimensionally poor people live in middle-income countries.
• There is massive variation in multidimensional poverty within countries. For example, Uganda’s national multidimensional poverty rate (55.1 percent) is similar to the Sub-Saharan Africa average (57.5 percent), but the incidence of multidimensional poverty in Uganda’s provinces ranges from 6.0 percent to 96.3 percent, a range similar to that of national multidimensional poverty rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (6.3–91.9 percent).
• Half of the 1.3 billion multidimensionally poor people are children under age 18. A third are children under age 10.
• This year’s spotlight on child poverty in South Asia reveals considerable diversity. While 10.7 percent of South Asian girls are out of school and live in a multidimensionally poor household, that average hides variation: in Afghanistan 44.0 percent do.
• In South Asia 22.7 percent of children under age 5 experience intrahousehold inequality in deprivation in nutrition (where at least one child in the household is malnourished and at least one child in the household is not). In Pakistan over a third of children under age 5 experience such intrahousehold inequality.
• Of 10 selected countries for which changes over time were analysed, India and Cambodia reduced their MPI values the fastest—and they did not leave the poorest groups behind.
• There is wide variation across countries in inequality among multidimensionally poor people—that is, in the intensity of poverty experienced by each poor person. For example, Egypt and Paraguay have similar MPI values, but inequality among multidimensionally poor people is considerably higher in Paraguay.
• There is little or no association between economic inequality (measured using the Gini coefficient) and the MPI value.
• In the 10 selected countries for which changes over time were analysed, deprivations declined faster among the poorest 40 percent of the population than among the total population.

2019 MPI: dimensions, indicators, deprivation cutoffs, and weights: The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways. It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health, education and standard of living, comprising 10 indicators. People who experience deprivation in at least one third of these weighted indicators fall into the category of multidimensionally poor.

27-Mar-2018: Global Multidimensional Poverty Index Report 2018

India has reduced its poverty rate from 55% to 28% in 10 years according to a new version of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report 2018.

It was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

MPI is a measure that takes into account the incidence of poverty and the extent of deprivation i.e. “who is poor” and “how they are poor”.

MPI is thus the product of two measures -

1. poverty rate as a percentage of the population
2. poverty intensity as the average share of deprivations that poor people experience

The index is based on a list of 10 deprivations for poor, covering health facilities, education and living standards. If someone is deprived in a third or more of the 10 weighted indicators, the global index identifies them as “MPI poor”. The present report covers 105 countries which are home to 77% of the world’s population or 5.7 billion people. The report dedicates a chapter to India because of its remarkable progress.

Nearly 271 million people have moved out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16 in India. India still had 364 million poor in 2015-16, the largest for any country. Nevertheless, it is down from 635 million in 2005-06. A total of 113 million people, or 8.6% of India’s people, live in 'severe poverty'. The traditional disadvantaged sub-groups such as rural dwellers, lower castes and tribes, Muslims and young children are still the poorest. Nevertheless, the rate of poverty reduction among children, the poorest states, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims was the fastest. Of the 364 million people who were MPI poor in 2015-16, 156 million (34.6%) were children. This is a 47% decrease from the 292 million poor children in India in 2005-06. Multidimensional poverty among children under 10 years of age has fallen the fastest. So the latest figures represent that 136 million fewer children are growing up in multidimensional poverty than in 2005-06. However, two in five children under 10 years of age are poor (41%), but less than one quarter of people aged 18 to 60 (24%) are poor. Although Muslims and STs reduced poverty the most over the 10 years, these two groups still had the highest rates of poverty. While 80% of ST members had been poor in 2005-06, 50% of them were still poor in 2015-16. On the other hand, only 15% of the higher castes are poor. While 60% of Muslims had been poor in 2005-06, 31% of them were still poor in 2015-16. Every third Muslim is multidimensionally poor, compared to every sixth Christian.

The four poorest states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. These are still home to 196 million MPI poor people, which is over half of all the MPI poor people in India. Bihar was the poorest state in 2015-16, with more than half its population in poverty. Across the 640 districts in India, the poorest district is Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh, where 76.5% of people are MPI poor. Jharkhand had the greatest improvement, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland. At the other end, Kerala, one of the least poor regions in 2006, reduced its MPI by around 92%.

Worldwide, 1.3 billion (23%) people live in multidimensional poverty in the 105 developing countries that the report covered. This represents 23%, or nearly a quarter, of the population of these countries. Multidimensional poverty was found in all developing regions of the world. However, it was seen to be particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These two regions account together for 83% (more than 1.1 billion) of all multi-dimensionally poor people in the world. Additionally, two-thirds of all multi-dimensionally poor people live in middle-income countries. Nearly 889 million people in these countries experience deprivations in nutrition, schooling, and sanitation, just like those in low-income countries.

Children account for almost half (49.9%) of the world’s poor. Worldwide, over 665 million children live in multidimensional poverty. In 35 countries, at least half of all children are MPI poor. In South Sudan and Niger, some 93% of all children are MPI poor.

20-Sep-2018: 271 million fewer poor people in India

The 2018 Multidimensional Poverty Index provides the most comprehensive view of the many ways in which 1.3 billion people worldwide experience poverty in their daily life. In 10 years, India has nearly halved its number of multidimensional poor – a massive gain.

India has made momentous progress in reducing multidimensional poverty, according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The incidence of multidimensional poverty has almost halved between 2005/6 and 2015/16, climbing down to 27.5 percent from 54.7 percent. Among South Asian countries, only Maldives has a lower headcount ratio than India at 1.9 percent, with Nepal (35.3 percent), Bangladesh (41.1 percent), and Pakistan (43.9) having higher incidences of multidimensional poverty. Though the traditionally disadvantaged groups – across states, castes, religions, and ages –are still the poorest, they have also experienced the biggest reductions in MPI through the decade, showing that they have been “catching up”. This is in line with global trends, where deeper progress among the poorest groups is reflected in the global MPI being cut by half.

The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways. It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health, education and living standards, and 10 indicators – nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, sanitation, cooking fuel, drinking water, electricity, housing and assets. Those who are deprived in at least a third of the MPI’s components are defined as multidimensionally poor. The 2018 report, which is now closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, cover almost three-quarters of the world’s population. The 2015-16 district-level calculations of the incidences of multidimensional poverty for India has been sourced from the National Family Health Survey IV. The data for 2005-06 is from the National Family Health Survey III.

Despite the massive gains made in reducing multidimensional poverty, 364 million Indians continue to experience acute deprivations in health, nutrition, schooling and sanitation. Just over one in four multidimensionally poor people in India are under ten years of age. In 104 primarily low and middle-income countries, 662 million children are considered multidimensionally poor. In 35 countries half of all children are poor.

The 2018 MPI data and report is available on the OPHI website and HDRO website. There are promising signs that poverty can be tackled. The latest figures paint a stark picture of just how many are still left behind by development, but they also demonstrate that progress can happen quickly with the right approach.

Globally, some 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty, which is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI is calculated. Of these 1.3 billion, almost half - 46 percent - are thought to be living in severe poverty and are deprived in at least half of the dimensions covered in the MPI.

But while there is much to be done, there are promising signs that such poverty can be - and is being -  tackled. In India, the first country for which progress over time has been estimated, 271 million people moved out of poverty between 2005/06 and 2015/16. The poverty rate here has nearly halved, falling from around 55 percent to around 28 percent over the 10-year period.

 “Although the level of poverty – particularly in children – is staggering so is the progress that can be made in tackling it. In India alone some 271 million have escaped multidimensional poverty in just 10 years,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “The Multidimensional Poverty Index gives insights that are vital for understanding the many ways in which people experience poverty, and it provides a new perspective on the scale and nature of global poverty while reminding us that eliminating it in all its forms is far from impossible.”

Although similar comparisons over time have not yet been calculated for other countries, the latest information from UNDP’s Human Development Index – released last week – shows significant development progress in all regions, including India. Since 1990, life expectancy increased by almost 4 years in South Asia (almost 11 years in India). This bodes well for improvements in multidimensional poverty.

Over half of all multidimensionally poor in India live in the four poorest states. Pockets of poverty are found across India, but multidimensional poverty is particularly acute – and significant – in the four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These accounted for 196 million MPI poor people – more than half of all MPI poor in India.

But there was also progress. Jharkhand made the biggest strides among all states in reducing multidimensional poverty, with Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland only slightly behind.

Delhi, Kerala and Goa have the lowest incidence of multidimensional poverty.

Across nearly every state, poor nutrition is the largest contributor to multidimensional poverty. Not having a household member with at least six years of education is the second largest contributor. Insufficient access to clean water and child mortality contribute least. Relatively fewer people living in poverty experience deprivations in school attendance – a significant gain.

“The MPI demonstrates the tremendous strides India has made, and continues to make, in reducing poverty. It is especially encouraging that traditionally disadvantaged groups are catching up the fastest. Not only is this in line with the core philosophy of the Sustainable Development Goals to reach the farthest first, it is also reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development pledge of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” said Francine Pickup, UNDP India Country Director.

About the MPI: The 2018 MPI is available for 1,101 subnational regions showing within-country variations in multidimensional poverty levels for 87 countries.

“The Multidimensional Poverty Index is a powerful tool for examining global poverty and communicating useful facts. Not only does it allow us to understand how different countries are faring in their fight against poverty, but it helps us to better understand who the poor are, where they are and the many different ways in which they experience poverty,” said Sabina Alkire, OPHI Director.

Traditional poverty measures – often calculated by numbers of people who earn less than $1.90 a day – shed light on how little people earn but not on whether or how they experience poverty in their day-to-day lives. The MPI provides a complementary picture of poverty and how it impacts people across the world.

“The Sustainable Development Goals call to eradicate poverty in all its forms everywhere. The Multidimensional Poverty Index helps answer that call, providing immensely valuable information for all those seeking to understand what poverty looks like for a particular place or group of people, and for those working on the policies to help people escape poverty now and into the future.”, said Selim Jahan, Director of the Human Development Report Office at UNDP.

While the MPI’s core data look at those who are poor, and the subset who are severely poor, the numbers also look at those very close to becoming poor. These people, while not quite multidimensionally poor, are living precariously and struggling to remain above the poverty line.

The data show that in addition to the 1.3 billion classed as poor, an additional 879 million are at risk of falling into multidimensional poverty, which could happen quickly if they suffer setbacks from conflict, sickness, drought, unemployment and more.

2-Jun-2017: Global Multidimensional Poverty Index [MPI], 2017

The global multidimensional poverty spans a number of topics, such as destitution, regional and sub-national variations in poverty, the composition of poverty. Global MPI covers 103 countries in total, which are home to 76 per cent of the world’s population, or 5.4 billion people. Of this proportion, 26.5 per cent of people (1.45 billion) are identified as multidimensionally poor.

Key findings:

• A total of 1.45 billion people from 103 countries are multidimensionally poor (considering 2013 population data); 26.5% of the people living in these countries.
• 48% of the poor people live in South Asia, and 36% in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Most MPI poor people – 72% – live in middle income countries.
• Half of the multidimensionally poor (48%) are children aged 0-17.
• Nearly half of all MPI poor people are destitute – 706 million – so experience extreme deprivations like severe malnutrition in at least one-third of the dimensions.
• The MPI and its indicators are disaggregated by 988 subnational regions in 78 countries. The poorest regions are in Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, and Afghanistan. Inside Afghanistan poverty rates vary from 25% in Kabul to 95% in Urozgan.

HIGHLIGHTS ~ SOUTH ASIA

In 2017, we have poverty estimations for seven South Asian countries, and subnational data for 84 regions, covering 94% of the population in South Asia.  Afghanistan is the poorest country in South Asia, with 56% of its population being multidimensionally poor using 2015/16 data; Pakistan (2013) is the next poorest with 44%, followed by Bangladesh (2014) and India (2011-12) with each 41%, Nepal (2014) at 29%, Bhutan (2010) at 27%, and the Maldives at 5%. These tend to be higher than the $1.90/day rates.

For the first time, we release child poverty results for all South Asian countries including Afghanistan and India. Our measure of child poverty identifies children by age groups. In Afghanistan, more than half of all children aged 0-17 are multidimensionally poor (59%); in India and Pakistan 50% of children are poor. At the same time, children in the Maldives (6%), Bhutan (29%), and Nepal (34%) are less likely to be multidimensionally poor.

Country	Year	MPI	% MPI poor (H)	Intensity of MPI (A)	% MPI Poor Children (0-17)
Maldives	2009	0.018	5.2%	35.6%	5.7%
Bhutan	2010	0.119	27.1%	43.9%	28.5%
Nepal	2014	0.126	28.6%	44.2%	33.9%
India	2012	0.191	41.3%	46.3%	49.9%
Bangladesh	2014	0.196	41.3%	47.4%	45.9%
Pakistan	2013	0.230	44.2%	52.1%	50.6%
Afghanistan	2016	0.295	56.1%	52.7%	58.6%

In terms of absolute numbers, India accounts for both the highest and a staggering number of multidimensionally poor people. Sadly, more than 528 million Indians are poor – which is more people than all the poor people living in sub-Saharan Africa combined. India’s multidimensionally poor face on average 47% of the ten deprivations, and more than 40% of the poor (or 217 million) are children aged 0-17. Unfortunately, the data for India are somewhat outdated (IHDS 2011-12) and we do not compute sub-national estimates. We will preparing new estimations as soon as India’s NFHS-IV data are released, at which time we will further analyse the MPI sub-regionally and over time.