Household Consumer Expenditure across Socio-Economic Groups, 2011-12

FOCUS

The National Sample Survey Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, released this report in February 2015. The survey for this report took place from July 2011 to June 2012 and collected data on household consumption of goods and services in India.

This report looks into how household spending amount and patterns change across different socioeconomic groups. Households are categorized by (i) social category (ST, SC, OBC, and Others); (ii) household (occupation) types; and in rural areas (iii) size of land possessed. The categorisation helps provide a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour across demographics. The report also shows changes in consumption patterns from 2004-05 to 2011-12, which is important for understanding the economic scenario in India.

The survey covered all states and union territories of India, excluding certain remote villages in Nagaland and inaccessible villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The survey covered 101,651 households (59,683 rural and 41,968 urban) across 7,469 villages and 5,268 urban blocks.

Monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) serves as a clear and widely applicable indicator of living standards. The average MPCE of any sub-population in the country represents a single figure describing the living standards of that group. A detailed analysis of MPCE distribution shows the proportion and absolute numbers of the poor relative to a specific poverty line. A welfare state must consider these figures when distributing resources across sectors, regions, and socioeconomic groups, and evaluate the inclusiveness of economic growth.

Since the consumption expenditure survey (CES) collects data on consumption level and trends, another important function of the survey is to calculate consumer price indices (CPIs), which assess the general rise in consumer prices. Additionally, the food (quantity) consumption data in the CES are utilized to explore regional nutrition discrepancies.

Field investigators worked on data collection through personal interviews, covering various expenditure aspects – food, non-food items, education, healthcare, and other services. Different ‘reference periods’ (time period for which consumption is recorded) were applied to different items. It was seven days for regular groceries like edible oil, eggs, meat, vegetables, beverages, processed food and the like. The reference period for other food items, fuel and light, and rent was 30 days. And for less frequent expenditures such as durable goods like clothes, footwear and even education and hospitalisation expenses, the reference period was 365 days.

    FACTOIDS

  2. At the national level, in rural areas, the average MPCE among Scheduled Tribes (STs) was Rs. 1,122, which was lower than the MPCE among Scheduled Castes (SCs) – Rs. 1,252. However, in urban areas, the STs had an MPCE of Rs. 2,193, higher than the SCs at Rs. 2,028, but lower than the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at Rs. 2,275. The average MPCE for 'Others' in India was Rs.1,719 in rural areas and Rs.3,242 in urban areas, higher than the overall averages.

  3. For rural areas, Lakshadweep had the highest state-level MPCE (Rs. 2,924) and the highest MPCE among STs (Rs. 2,921), while Odisha had the lowest (Rs. 1,003 and Rs. 792). The state-level MPCE among Scheduled Castes was highest in Chandigarh at Rs 3,477 and lowest in Odisha at Rs. 934.

  4. The average MPCE among Scheduled Castes in rural areas of major states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Punjab was higher than the all India rural MPCE.

  5. Delhi has the highest MPCE in the OBC category at Rs. 3,704, followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Rs. 3,215. The states recording the lowest expenditure among OBCs were Mizoram (Rs. 917), Jharkhand (Rs. 1,017) and Odisha (Rs. 1,062).

  6. In urban India, Chandigarh stood out with the highest average MPCE of Rs. 6,035 among the ST population, even though the ST population in the state was less than five per cent. On the other hand, Puducherry recorded the lowest average MPCE among STs at Rs. 933. This highlights a significant gap in consumption expenditure across states, pointing towards clear socio-economic inequalities and differences in living standards within the ST population in urban areas.

  7. The survey found that within the SC category in urban India, the highest MPCE was from Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Rs. 6,928, while the lowest was from Bihar at Rs. 1,305. The same pattern was observed in the OBC category as well, where Nagaland recorded the lowest numbers (Rs. 1,130) and Andaman and Nicobar recorded the highest (Rs. 5,335). In the ‘Others’ category, Lakshadweep had the highest MPCE (Rs. 7,404) in urban India, while Manipur had the lowest (Rs. 1,532).

  8. The survey also recorded MPCE across household types: self-employed, regular wage/salary earning, casual labour and others. The all-India rural MPCE according to household type was Rs. 1,430. Figures showed that the MPCE in the ‘others’ type was the highest at Rs. 1,893, followed by ‘regular wage/casual earnings’ (Rs. 2,002), ‘self-employed in non-agriculture’ (Rs. 1,509), ‘self-employed in agriculture’ (Rs. 1,436), ‘casual labour in non-agriculture’ (Rs. 1,238) and ‘casual labour in agriculture’ (Rs. 1,159).

  9. The all-India urban MPCE by household type was Rs. 2,630. The MPCE for ‘others’ was highest at Rs.3,734, followed by ‘regular wage/salary earning’ (Rs. 3,062), ‘self-employed’ (Rs. 2,415) and ‘casual labour’ (Rs. 1,514).

  10. At the national level, rural MPCE increased significantly with an increase in the size of possessed land. The average rural MPCE for the class possessing more than four hectares of land was Rs. 1,953, higher than the all-India rural average of Rs. 1,430. Classes owning land under two hectares had lower MPCE than this rural average.

  11. There was a strong positive relationship between MPCE and land ownership (for households with more than one hectare), which was evident in most major states. Kerala has the largest land possession in rural India, followed by Punjab, which also has significant land possessions of more than 1-2 hectares.

  12. The categories with relatively high average MPCEs were seen to allocate a greater proportion of their consumer expenditure to non-food items. In rural areas, the share of expenditure on non-food items ranged from 44 per cent for the ST group to 49 per cent for Others, while in urban areas, it ranged from 53 per cent among SCs to 60 per cent among Others.

  13. The share of MPCE spent on cereal consumption varied significantly among different household types. Cereals made up 12 per cent of overall expenditure among ‘casual labour in agriculture’ households but only eight percent in ‘others’ and ‘regular wage/salary earning’ households. In urban areas, ‘casual labour’ households allocated 10 per cent of their expenditure to cereals whereas ‘self-employed’ spent seven per cent, ‘regular wage/salary earning’ spent six per cent, and ‘others’ spent five per cent.

  14. In both rural and urban sectors, MPCE ranking of groups has been consistent between 2004-05 and 2011-12. During this time, the class with the highest MPCE was ‘Others’, followed by ‘OBC’. Scheduled Tribes (SC) had the lowest MPCE in rural areas and Scheduled Castes had the lowest MPCE in urban areas.

  15. In the urban areas, the ST group's MPCE position improved very slightly from 18.5 per cent lower than the all-groups average to 16.6 per cent lower. The SC group position also only somewhat improved, from 27.9 per cent lower to 22.9 per cent lower than the all-group average. From 2004-05 to 2011-12, the OBC category also exhibited a slight improvement in MPCE. The ‘Others’ group mostly stayed the same.

  16. In the rural areas, the SC group's MPCE compared to the overall average improved from 15 per cent lower to 12.4 per cent lower between 2004-05 and 2011-12. The ST group improved from 23.7 per cent to 21.5 per cent below the all-group average. MPCE improved little among OBCs between 2004-05 and 2011-12. The ‘Others’ group dropped from 22.6 per cent to 20.2 per cent over the all-groups average.


    Focus and Factoids by Piyush Ranjan.

AUTHOR

National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India

COPYRIGHT

National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India

PUBLICATION DATE

Feb, 2015

TAGS

#adivasis #per-capita-consumption #national-sample-survey #household-consumption-expenditure-survey #dalits

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