Poverty means the inability to meet basic needs like food, clothing and shelter, while unemployment means people willing to work cannot find jobs. Both are key measures of an economy's health and appear often in general studies papers.
Understanding Poverty
- The poverty line is the minimum income needed to meet basic needs.
- Absolute poverty measures against a fixed standard; relative poverty compares income across groups.
- In India, the poverty line is mainly based on calorie intake and consumption expenditure.
- Poverty data is collected through household consumption surveys.
Poverty Committees
- Tendulkar Committee (2009) - widely used estimate; found about 21.9 percent below the poverty line in 2011-12.
- Rangarajan Committee (2014) - gave a higher estimate of poverty.
- Earlier estimates were made by the Lakdawala Committee.
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Types of Unemployment
- Disguised unemployment - more people work than needed, common in agriculture.
- Seasonal unemployment - work available only in certain seasons.
- Structural unemployment - caused by changes in the economy and skill mismatch.
- Frictional unemployment - short-term, while moving between jobs.
- Cyclical unemployment - due to a slowdown in the economy.
Government Steps
- MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of wage employment in rural areas.
- Schemes like PMKVY focus on skill development.
- The NSO conducts the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to measure unemployment.
Quick Revision Points
- Poverty line = minimum income for basic needs.
- Tendulkar (2009) and Rangarajan (2014) = key poverty committees.
- Disguised unemployment is common in agriculture.
- Structural unemployment comes from skill mismatch.
- MGNREGA gives 100 days of rural work.
- Unemployment measured by the PLFS of the NSO.