Household consumer expenditure across socio-economic groups, 2011-12
The NSS consumer expenditure survey aims at generating estimates of average household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE), the distribution of households and persons over the MPCE range, and the break-up of average MPCE by commodity group, separately for the rural and urban sectors of the country, for States and Union Territories, and for different socio-economic groups. These indicators are amongst the most important measures of the level of living of the relevant domains of the population. The distribution of MPCE highlights the differences in level of living of the different segments of the population and is an effective tool to study the prevalence of poverty and inequality. These estimates thus assist the apex planning and decision-making process in allocating the nation’s resources among sectors, regions, and socio-economic groups, and assess the “inclusiveness” of economic growth. This report investigates the variation in level and pattern of consumer expenditure over various socio-economic groups of households. Households are categorised into different socio-economic groups on the basis of social group; household (occupation) type, and, in rural areas, also by size of land possessed.