What Poor People Say About Moving Out of Poverty

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Economists have described poverty in terms of daily calorie intake, purchasing power or income. But what do poor people have to say about it? Moving out of Poverty is an interesting study by Deepa Narayan of the World Bank based on 2,200 focus group discussions, 4,400 household questionnaires and 2700 life stories in 300 villages across Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. They were asked to narrate their experiences between 1995 and 2005. In all, about 30,000 persons are said to have been covered.

People described a poor person as one who does not have proper food or a proper house, is unlettered and poorly clothed, works part of the month and may have to put his children to work as well. They said that poverty was more pervasive than the official estimate.

The study finds that people who move out of poverty do not all stay there. Illness, death and social factors like marriage ceremonies tend to pull people with meagre assets down. The reasons for moving up and falling down are different. Focusing on averages might be misleading. For instance, nearly 19 percent of households in West Bengal moved above the people-defined poverty line during 1995 and 2005, but a little less than 8 percent slid back, so if support had been provided for the stragglers, poverty reduction would have been greater.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme came later, in 2006, but one can infer from the study that it can become more than a safety net, if it makes land more productive and increases work opportunities though, say, water conservation efforts. Expansion of the National Rural Health Mission would greatly help, as also insulating people against social shocks.

The study says the chronically poor are not lazy. Their hard work may not help them move up the ladder of life if they lack assets. A house or fertile land can help. Also non-agricultural opportunities like vending. The role of local governments was described as important in providing entitlements, but this could be a zero sum game - some gained at the expense of others as there was not enough to go around. Caste (in Uttar Pradesh), affiliation to the ruling party (West Bengal) and collectives like self-help groups (Andhra Pradesh) helped people secure benefits from local governments.

Personal initiative and hard work were described as the most important factors to get on in life, but these require local markets and finance to get activated.

People perceived that bribe-taking has more than doubled over the 10-year period. This calls for strong social action groups, particularly local collectives, to keep corrupt officials in check.