Majority of marginal farmers are in poverty and debt traps and engage themselves in non-farm economic activities and wage labour for sustenance. While two out of three cultivators are marginal farmers, their total operational landholding constitutes less than a quarter of total cultivable land.
Because consumer spending accounts for about 63.3% of the nominal GDP (Dec 2022) of India, this Index of Consumer Sentiment can be regarded as one of many important economic indicators followed by businesses, policymakers, and participants in the investment community.
India’s rural population for 2021 was 909,384,77, i.e., 64.64% of India lives in rural areas. This is much more than the combined population of Europe and Australia. According to the NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, the poverty ratio was as high as 32.75 per cent in rural areas in 2015-16.
The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was created in the 1940s by Professor George Katona at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. His efforts ultimately led to a national telephone survey conducted and published monthly by the university. The survey queries consumers on their views of their own personal finances, as well as the short-term and long-term state of the U.S. economy.
It is estimated that while urban users grew by 4%, rural users were actually growing by 13%, implying that by 2025, there will be more rural internet users than urban.
The most consumed ‘fast food’ item among adolescents is chips/Kurkure type of snacks with 87% having consumed the same about three times in the past 7 days.
The average Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS) was 4.20 out of a total possible score of 12. This means an average rural household could only consume 4-5 out of the 12 food groups for a balanced diet in the last 24 hours.
Given that 2021 was a tough year in terms of COVID-related disruptions, close to half of the earners confirmed that there has been some sort of economic recovery. However, the recovery was ten percentage points higher in urban areas than in rural.
The biggest issue in India today is unemployment, being the priority choice of nearly 33% of urban respondents and over 37% of rural respondents.
Universally, higher share of the older age group tends to believe that their children would take care of them in their old age; but this sentiment is not reflected in the view held by the younger earners.
Very little is known about how an average rural resident spend their downtime, or whether they have sufficient downtime for personal pursuits.
School education forms the backbone of India’s labour force. Eighty-six per cent of India’s labour force comprises those with education till Class 12 or below, which implies that a major portion of the workforce carries out their livelihood on the basis of the skills learnt from school.
In rural India visiting a government health facility when one needs to consult a health practitioner is not as ubiquitous as one would assume. A survey, carried out by the Development Intelligence Unit reveals that only in 57% of the cases has this been the preferred treatment seeking behaviour.
