Household Assets and Amenities among Socio-Religious Groups in India

Sudeshna Ghosh, Independent Consultant
Sanjay K Mohanty, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Abhishek Kumar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

We used the unit data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey, conducted between 2019 and 20-21, and presented the variations in household assets, amenities, and beneficiaries of social welfare schemes across seven socio-religious groups of India. The household assets include television, cars, motorised vehicles, mobile telephones etc and the amenities include access to improved water, sanitation and electricity. We also used the wealth index, a composite measure derived from thirty-five variables reflecting socioeconomic conditions across socio-religious groups. The findings revealed distinct socioeconomic patterns among the scheduled castes affiliated with the major religions in India. The Scheduled Castes Affiliated to Islam (SCAI) were more urbanized, while Scheduled Castes Affiliated to Christianity (SCAC) had the highest concentration of high-end assets, followed by SCAI and Scheduled Castes Affiliated to Hinduism (SCAH). The wealth distribution showed a higher proportion of the population in the bottom 40% among SCAH compared to SCAC and SCAI. The SCAC households had higher access to BPL cards and public health insurance, while SCAH exhibited the greatest wealth inequality and poorest economic conditions. Conversely, the SCAC demonstrated relatively better socioeconomic outcomes, highlighting disparities among these socio-religious groups.

Keywords: Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Population and Development, Economic Demography

See extended abstract.