Multidimensional Poverty Index

Geography glossary

Also called: MPI, Global MPI · Topic: Human Development: Concept, Approaches and Measurement · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures poverty by counting the people who face several hardships (deprivations) at the same time in health, education and living standards. A person counts as poor if they are deprived in one-third or more of 10 weighted indicators. The UNDP and OPHI (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, University of Oxford) built it, and it first appeared in the Human Development Report (HDR) of 2010.

It matters because it shows who is poor and in what ways, not just who has low income. India's NITI Aayog uses its own version, the National MPI, to compare states.

Explanation

Why the MPI was needed

  • The HDI shows only averages. The Human Development Index (HDI) gives a country's average score. It does not show how gains are shared among people.
  • The Human Poverty Index (HPI, 1997-2009) had a gap. The HPI measured the shortfall, meaning the people left behind. But it took a national average for each deprivation separately.

  • So it could not tell whether the same household faced several problems at once.

  • The MPI fixed this. It replaced the HPI in 2010. It checks each household on every indicator together.

Structure: 3 dimensions, 10 indicators

  • The three dimensions carry equal weight:
Dimension Indicators
Health Nutrition, child mortality
Education Years of schooling, school attendance
Living standards Cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets
  • Health and education have only 2 indicators each, while living standards has 6. Since all three dimensions weigh the same, each health or education indicator weighs more than each living-standards indicator.

How a person is counted as poor (the cut-off)

  • Step 1: Check each household on all 10 indicators.
  • Step 2: Add up the weights of the indicators the household lacks.
  • Step 3: If the total is 33.3% (one-third) or more, everyone in that household counts as multidimensionally poor.
  • Result: the index picks up overlapping deprivations, meaning the same family lacking clean cooking fuel, a toilet and enough food all at once.
  • People who are poor by this count are said to live in acute multidimensional poverty (severe poverty on many fronts at once).

India's National MPI (NITI Aayog)

  • It has 12 indicators: the 10 global ones plus 2 more.
  • Maternal health, added under health.

  • Bank account, added under living standards.

  • Its data come from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

  • Multidimensional poverty fell from about 25% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to about 15% (NFHS-5, 2019-21).

Where it occurs

  • World (Global MPI 2025, titled "Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards"):
  • It covers 109 countries. 1.1 billion of 6.3 billion people live in acute multidimensional poverty, and over half of them are children [1][2].
  • 887 million poor people (nearly 8 in 10) are directly exposed to at least one climate hazard: extreme heat, flooding, drought or air pollution [2].
  • 651 million poor people face two or more of these hazards [2].

  • Almost half of the world's MPI-poor live in just six middle-income countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania [2].

  • India (National MPI, run by NITI Aayog using NFHS data):

  • Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have the highest shares of MPI-poor people.
  • Kerala has the lowest share.
  • This shows how one national average hides big regional gaps.

Don't confuse with

  • Human Poverty Index (HPI): used from 1997 to 2009. It measured each deprivation separately using national averages. The MPI checks the same household on all indicators together.
  • Human Development Index (HDI): measures average achievement, on a scale of 0 to 1 where higher is better. The MPI measures deprivation, meaning who is left behind.
  • Global MPI vs National MPI: the Global MPI (UNDP + OPHI) has 10 indicators. NITI Aayog's National MPI has 12, because it adds maternal health and bank account.
  • Income poverty line: counts people below a set income or spending level. The MPI looks at non-income hardships such as schooling, sanitation, cooking fuel and nutrition.

Prelims Hooks

  • The MPI was launched in 2010 by the UNDP with OPHI, University of Oxford, and it replaced the HPI.
  • Global MPI: 3 equally weighted dimensions and 10 indicators. A person is poor if deprived in ≥ one-third of the weighted indicators.
  • National MPI (NITI Aayog): 12 indicators. The two extra ones are maternal health (health) and bank account (living standards). Its data come from the NFHS.
  • Trap: cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and assets come under living standards, not health. Nutrition and child mortality come under health.
  • Global MPI 2025: 1.1 billion poor out of 6.3 billion people across 109 countries. About 887 million of the poor are exposed to climate hazards [1][2].
  • National MPI: the highest shares of poor are in Bihar, Jharkhand and UP. The lowest share is in Kerala.

Mains Points

  • Regional gaps need local planning (GS-I). On the National MPI, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP sit at the bottom and Kerala at the top.
  • A single national average hides these gaps.

  • Policy responses: the aspirational districts programme and targeting by state-level MPI.

  • Poverty has many sides, and so must schemes. The MPI's overlapping deprivations (cooking fuel, sanitation, housing, nutrition, bank account) line up with India's clean-fuel, toilet, housing, nutrition and bank-account programmes.

  • The fall from about 25% (2015-16) to about 15% (2019-21) shows that schemes working on several indicators together can cut poverty.

  • Poverty and climate are linked (GS-III). Nearly 8 in 10 of the world's poor (887 million) face climate hazards, and 651 million face two or more [2].

  • India is one of the six countries holding almost half of the world's MPI-poor [2].
  • So anti-poverty plans must also build resilience to heat, floods, drought and air pollution.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 12025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)hdr.undp.org · tier 2
  2. 2New Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report reveals nearly 80% of world's poor live in regions exposed to climate hazards (UNDP press release)undp.org · tier 2