Poverty Indicators:

The data sources used  for measuring poverty are a study of income distribution, disaggregation of other indicators by subgroups and time-use  studies. Various studies use all of the following or a few of these indicators to measure the extent of poverty levels in a country.

1)  Proportion of population below minimum  level of dietary energy consumption (indigent)

2)  Poverty gap ratio (incidence multiplied by depth of poverty)

3)  Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

4)  Prevalence of underweight children (under five years of age)

5)  Proportion of population below $1  per day (PPP-values)

Most of  the  national  governments conduct sample surveys to implement poverty alleviating programmes. The World  Bank  has conducted several  studies called the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). lnformation on  the poverty levels of specific groups can be arrived at by disaggregating poverty indicators  based  on gender, caste, age, race and location. Similarly, time-use data can be used  to study sub-groups of population  in  terms of the economic value of their work  (i.e., paid or unpaid),  types of activities performed, and  intensity of activities. This data is often used for measuring gender equity and intra-household divisions of labour.