Skip to Main Content

A country with high levels of (monetary) international poverty may perform badly in other nonmonetary welfare dimensions. Table 13 lists some indicators of nonmonetary well-being for the subpopulation of poor people identified using the national consumption aggregates. The nonmonetary indicators in most cases are broadly consistent with the monetary poverty rates, although Bhutan and Pakistan are outliers with respect to literacy. Sri Lanka has the lowest proportion of household members that are illiterate, while Pakistan has the highest and Bangladesh the second highest. In South Asia, Pakistan scores the worst when it comes to education among the extreme poor. Although Bhutan has the second-lowest extreme poverty rate in the region, its extreme poor are worse off in many categories when they are compared with India's extreme poor. For example, only 19% of the heads of households that are extremely poor in Bhutan are literate, compared to 50% in India and 29% in Bangladesh.

Table 13. 

Summary Statistics of Indicators of Nonmonetary Well-Being for the Extreme Poor Identified Using the National Consumption Aggregates

VariableBangladeshBhutanIndiaMaldivesNepalPakistanSri Lanka
Household composition       
Household size 5.73 8.40 6.43 7.53 7.16 10.01 5.60 
Dependency ratio 0.97 0.73 0.78 0.67 1.16 1.42 0.70 
Education attainment in household        
Household head knows how to read and write 0.29 0.19 0.50 1.00 0.37 0.28  
Proportion of household members who are illiterate 0.70 0.63 0.44 0.38 0.63 0.80 0.21 
Household members with primary schooling 0.18 0.33 0.35 0.18 0.32 0.18 0.37 
Ratio of female children in school to all children in school 0.54 0.41  0.48 0.53 0.35 0.47 
Employment        
Household head engaged in agriculture 0.56  0.55 0.37  0.49 0.53 
Household head self-employed 0.35 0.24 0.48 0.39 0.80 0.39 0.32 
Household assets and facilities        
Household has a landline phone 0.01  0.01 0.12 0.02 0.01 0.09 
Household has electricity 0.25 0.58 0.57  0.43 0.74 0.64 
Household has a radio 0.05 0.36 0.16 0.69 0.41 0.02 0.45 
Household has a television 0.10 0.12 0.29 0.97 0.16 0.19 0.49 
Household has a fan 0.15 0.06 0.45 1.00 0.14 0.71 0.15 
Household has a sewing machine 0.02 0.01 0.08 0.54 0.05 0.25 0.10 
Household has a bicycle 0.15 0.02 0.66 0.34 0.28 0.26 0.36 
Drinking water from hygienic source 0.96 0.96   0.73 0.87 0.84 
Availability of proper sanitation facilities 0.3 0.61   0.1 0.28 0.74 
VariableBangladeshBhutanIndiaMaldivesNepalPakistanSri Lanka
Household composition       
Household size 5.73 8.40 6.43 7.53 7.16 10.01 5.60 
Dependency ratio 0.97 0.73 0.78 0.67 1.16 1.42 0.70 
Education attainment in household        
Household head knows how to read and write 0.29 0.19 0.50 1.00 0.37 0.28  
Proportion of household members who are illiterate 0.70 0.63 0.44 0.38 0.63 0.80 0.21 
Household members with primary schooling 0.18 0.33 0.35 0.18 0.32 0.18 0.37 
Ratio of female children in school to all children in school 0.54 0.41  0.48 0.53 0.35 0.47 
Employment        
Household head engaged in agriculture 0.56  0.55 0.37  0.49 0.53 
Household head self-employed 0.35 0.24 0.48 0.39 0.80 0.39 0.32 
Household assets and facilities        
Household has a landline phone 0.01  0.01 0.12 0.02 0.01 0.09 
Household has electricity 0.25 0.58 0.57  0.43 0.74 0.64 
Household has a radio 0.05 0.36 0.16 0.69 0.41 0.02 0.45 
Household has a television 0.10 0.12 0.29 0.97 0.16 0.19 0.49 
Household has a fan 0.15 0.06 0.45 1.00 0.14 0.71 0.15 
Household has a sewing machine 0.02 0.01 0.08 0.54 0.05 0.25 0.10 
Household has a bicycle 0.15 0.02 0.66 0.34 0.28 0.26 0.36 
Drinking water from hygienic source 0.96 0.96   0.73 0.87 0.84 
Availability of proper sanitation facilities 0.3 0.61   0.1 0.28 0.74 

Note: All reported summary statistics are population weighted.

Source: Authors’ estimates based on South Asia Harmonized Micro Dataset (accessed September 15, 2017).

Close Modal

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal