Multi-dimensional Poverty Among the Handloom Weavers in Odisha, India: Prevalence and Determinants

This study focuses to examine the prevalence and determinants of poverty among handloom weavers in a non-monetary multi-dimensional approach. Drawing from a field study in four villages of Odisha which consists of 1,853 individual members in 435 weaver households, the Alkire–Foster methodology has been used for the estimation of multi-dimensional poverty. Three dimensions namely health, education and standard of living are considered to construct the multi-dimensional poverty index. The results show that around a quarter of the sample handloom weavers are multi-dimensional poor and are deprived in 40% of the indicators. Apart from this, another 29% are vulnerable to poverty. Nutrition under the health dimension and asset ownership, sanitation and cooking fuel under standard of living dimension have contributed the most to the overall MPI score. The results of regression analysis infer that household size, income, education, skill and social category are the significant factors in affecting the magnitude of poverty. Results point to a pressing need for extensive implementation and wider coverage of existing government schemes to the target population.