INDIA, January 21, 2015 (Newsweek): A recently released World Bank report has claimed that the chance of escaping poverty is now roughly the same in India as it is in the U.S. The report, called Addressing Inequality in South Asia, compares the share of consumption among three developing countries – Vietnam, Bangladesh and India – and the United States, divided along transitioning class lines – moving out of poverty, those moving from poverty into the middle class, falling back to poverty, falling out of middle class. The findings of the analysis were that “within the same generation, mobility in earnings – measured by the ability to move out of poverty and into the middle class – is comparable to that of the United States.”
The report says that India between 2004-05 and 2009-10, 15% of the total population moved above the poverty line. By these measures, the report claims “upward mobility within a generation in…. India was comparable to that of dynamic societies such as the United States.” The report attributed much of India’s upward mobility to increased urbanisation in the country, stating in a summary: “Urban jobs have become a ticket to the middle class. Upward mobility is much stronger in cities, where even self-employment and casual work can lead to substantial gains in consumption.” While the report pointed to robust mobility, it also highlighted inequality in access to public services, which can largely be traced to factors such as gender, location and caste.
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