"The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone".…

Question

"The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone". In this context analyse the latest United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index Report.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

The Global MPI 2020 shows that multiplying the incidence of poverty by its intensity reveals overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards that an income line misses. About 273 million Indians moved out of multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16, the largest number of any country.

**Introduction**

An income line cannot show whether a family has clean water, schooling or enough nutrition. The Global MPI 2020, by UNDP and OPHI, multiplies the incidence of poverty (share of people poor) by its intensity (average share of deprivations).

**Why Incidence and Intensity Matter Beyond Income**

SKETCH: comparison | Income Line vs Global MPI
a: Income poverty
b: Global MPI
- Spending per day :: 10 indicators
- Headcount only :: Incidence × intensity
- Misses public goods :: Counts water, schooling
- Guides cash support :: Guides sectoral targeting

1. **Capability view**: Amartya Sen saw poverty as capability deprivation, which the MPI's health, education and living-standard dimensions measure directly.
2. **Depth and overlap**: Under the Alkire-Foster method a person is poor if deprived in a third of weighted indicators, and progress among the poorest registers before they cross any line.

**Key Findings of the Global MPI 2020 Report**

1. **Scale**: About 1.3 billion people in 107 countries were poor, 644 million of them children, with about 84% in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
2. **India's record**: About 273 million Indians left multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16, the largest number of any country.
3. **Limits**: The report warned that COVID-19 could set progress back 3 to 10 years, while its indicators count attendance rather than learning and omit work and safety.

**Way Forward**

1. **Broader index**: Build on NITI Aayog's National MPI, which adds maternal health and bank accounts, and add learning and climate exposure.
2. **Faster data**: Use Poshan Tracker and Jal Jeevan Mission records between NFHS rounds, alongside consumption surveys.

**Conclusion**

Incidence and intensity show who is poor, how deeply and why. Measuring poverty in all its dimensions, as SDG 1.2 demands, lets India judge welfare by real capabilities.

"The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone". In this context analyse the latest United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index Report.

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