Which among the following is/are NOT a social indicator of poverty ?
1. Illiteracy
2. Safe drinking water
3. Job opportunities
4. Size of the house
Select the correct answer from the code given below

Question

Which among the following is/are NOT a social indicator of poverty ?
1. Illiteracy
2. Safe drinking water
3. Job opportunities
4. Size of the house
Select the correct answer from the code given below :
Code :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Only 4. The question asks for the odd one out, and only 'size of the house' falls outside the standard list of social indicators of poverty. Illiteracy is the education deprivation — in the Multidimensional Poverty Index the education dimension is measured through years of schooling and school attendance. Access to safe drinking water is one of the standard-of-living deprivations counted in the same index, alongside sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, housing and assets. Lack of job opportunities is the livelihood deprivation, listed with illiteracy and malnutrition whenever poverty is described through social rather than income indicators. The size of a dwelling is none of these: multidimensional measures look at housing quality — the material of the roof, walls and floor — not at floor area, because a large but derelict house tells you nothing about deprivation. Hence only item 4 is not a social indicator.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Both are indicators. Illiteracy is the textbook first example of a social indicator of poverty, and access to safe drinking water is one of the standard-of-living deprivations in multidimensional poverty measurement.  (b) Half right and half wrong. Item 4 is indeed the exception, but item 3 is not — lack of job opportunities is a recognised social deprivation, quoted alongside illiteracy and malnutrition. Adding it makes the option wrong.  (d) The weakest choice of all: illiteracy is the least deniable of the four. Education is one of the three equally weighted dimensions of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, so it cannot be the item that fails to qualify.

Concept: Poverty is measured along two tracks. The income or consumption track draws a poverty line from a minimum consumption basket anchored to a calorie norm and reports the Head Count Ratio — the share of people below that line. The social or non-income track instead counts deprivations directly: illiteracy, malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of employment opportunity, lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. It is the second track this question is testing. The same logic drives the global Multidimensional Poverty Index, built by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support, whose three equally weighted dimensions — health, education and standard of living — are unpacked into ten indicators.

State PCS 2025 Q24 — Economy PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q24 — Economy PYQ with Answer