Uniform reference period
Also called: URP · Topic: Economic Data: Census, NSS, Surveys and Statistical Tools · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The uniform reference period (URP) is a way of asking households about their spending in a consumption survey. The reference period, or recall period, is the length of past time the household is asked to remember. Under URP it is 30 days for every item, from rice to clothes to durables. The recall period matters because people forget less over a short period. So the same household reports different spending under different recall periods. URP usually gives the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE). The order is MMRP > MRP > URP, so measured poverty comes out higher under URP.
Example
Under URP, an NSS enumerator asks a household what it spent on vegetables in the last 30 days. The enumerator also asks what it spent on clothing and footwear in the last 30 days. The Lakdawala poverty line used URP data.
Don't confuse with
- Mixed reference period (MRP): uses 365 days for clothing, bedding, footwear, durables, education and institutional medical care, and 30 days for everything else.
- Modified mixed reference period (MMRP) (from 2009-10): adds a 7-day recall for perishables such as vegetables, fruits, egg-fish-meat and edible oil. It uses 365 days for the MRP items and 30 days for the rest.