{
  "id": 17553668,
  "title": "Real Earning Unchanged In India With Low Quality Of Employment Growth",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/real-earning-unchanged-in-india-with-low-quality-of-employment-growth",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-31T09:52:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Arabian Post",
    "slug": "arabian-post",
    "url": "https://thearabianpost.com/real-earning-unchanged-in-india-with-low-quality-of-employment-growth/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Real earning figures for workers in India have remained unchanged, and the quality of employment growth has been low over recent years. Despite the World Bank reporting a decline in India's extreme poverty rate to 2.6% in their Poverty & Equity brief released on October 30, 2026, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise. The poverty reduction figure is influenced by factors such as the method of measurement and the base year, which do not fully represent the current situation in India. The World Bank utilized outdated data from 2021, calculated using Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) from 2021, to determine poverty estimates. However, these figures are not based on income but consumption expenditure, which provides a less accurate reflection of reality. Adjusted for current prices, the poverty line for a lower middle-class country like India would be around $5.32, resulting in an incidence of poverty between 33-36% instead of the reported 2.6%. Similarly, the international poverty line of $3 would correspond to an incidence of extreme poverty around 14.2% in India. The government of India's poverty estimation, based on consumer expenditure, includes welfare schemes, education, healthcare, and subsidies, which differ from the income-based measures. Furthermore, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported a working poverty rate of 3.6% in 2025, indicating that 5.5 crore people fall into poverty due to unaffordable medical expenses every year. The report also highlights that over 25 crore people were lifted out of poverty during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite India's employment growth of 134 million people between 2017-2023, a significant portion of the increase is attributed to rural women entering the workforce, raising the number of earners per household. However, real earnings have remained stagnant, with employment growth concentrated in low-productivity activities. Households, both urban and rural, have experienced welfare gains, narrowing the rural-urban gap to some extent. Poverty remains geographically concentrated, with households in the belt spanning from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal accounting for about 57% of India's poor population. Further poverty reduction will rely on enabling productive employment opportunities in these states. The report suggests that microsimulation-based poverty projections will be updated as labour market and macroeconomic data evolve. While consumption growth, rising employment, and expanded social transfers have contributed to poverty reduction, wage disparities persist, with the top 10% of workers earning 13 times more than the bottom 10%. The World Inequality Database places India among the most unequal countries, with the top 1% controlling 40% of wealth while the bottom 50% receive only 15% of national income.",
  "summary": "By Dr. Gyan Pathak Real earning of workers in India remained unchanged and there was low quality of employment growth in recent years. Even though extreme poverty in India has been reported declined to 2.6 per cent by World Bank’s Poverty & Equity brief for India released on October 30, 2026. Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet […] The article Real Earning Unchanged In India With Low Quality Of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}