Contrasting the Levels of Poverty against the Burden of Poverty: An Indian Case

Comparisons of levels of poverty across contexts and circumstances overlook the composition and characteristics of the domain of non-poor. But implications of poverty in terms of compromised welfare as well as its potential for alleviation do depend on the structure and composition of the non-poor. On this premise, this note empirically illustrates a contrast between the levels and burden of poverty for Indian states. It finds that burden of poverty is not linear with levels of poverty implying that similar levels of poverty have differential potential for its alleviation.