Poverty and Unemployment ICSE Class 9 Economics: Poverty Line, Types, Causes and Schemes

What Poverty and Unemployment is about

Weightage: CISCE publishes no chapter weightage and no question-paper layout for ICSE Class 9 Economics. Class IX is examined by your school: one 80-mark paper of 2 hours plus 20 marks of internal assessment. Poverty and Unemployment is topic 5. Major Problems of the Indian Economy of the 2028 syllabus.Source: CISCE ICSE 2028 Economics syllabus, Class IX

Key concepts

Poverty and the calorie-based poverty line

Poverty is a situation in which a person or family is unable to obtain the minimum basic needs of life: food, clothing, shelter, health care and education.

The poverty line is the minimum level of income or consumption expenditure needed to meet these basic needs. People below it are counted as poor (below poverty line, BPL).

Calorie-based concept: in India the poverty line was first drawn (by a Planning Commission task force in 1979) on the basis of the minimum food energy a person needs: 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2,100 calories per person per day in urban areas. The money needed to buy food giving these calories, plus a small amount for other basic needs, was taken as the poverty line income. Rural people need more calories because they do more physical work. Later expert groups added the cost of other needs such as education and health, but the calorie norm is what the syllabus asks.

Worked example

(2 marks) What is the poverty line? Why is the calorie norm higher for rural areas?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The poverty line is the minimum income or consumption needed to meet basic needs; in India it was based on 2,400 calories (rural) and 2,100 calories (urban) per person per day - 1 mark.
2. Rural people mostly do heavy physical work such as farming, so they need more food energy - 1 mark.

Answer: The poverty line is the minimum level of income or expenditure needed to meet basic needs, calculated in India from a minimum intake of 2,400 calories a day in villages and 2,100 in towns. The rural norm is higher because rural work is more physically demanding.

Absolute and relative poverty

Absolute poverty is the condition in which a person's income or consumption is below the poverty line, so that even minimum basic needs cannot be met. It is measured against a fixed minimum standard. Example: a landless labourer's family that cannot afford two full meals a day or basic medicine.

Relative poverty compares the income of a person or group with that of others in the same society. A person is relatively poor if he is much poorer than others, even if his basic needs are met. It shows inequality. Example: a clerk's family that has enough food and a home but earns a tiny fraction of what a company director's family earns; or the bottom 20% of households earning one-tenth of what the top 20% earn.

Differences: absolute poverty uses a fixed minimum standard and can be ended; relative poverty depends on comparison and exists in every society, even rich countries, as long as incomes are unequal.

Worked example

(2 marks) Distinguish between absolute and relative poverty with an example.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Absolute poverty: income below the poverty line, unable to meet basic needs, e.g. a family that cannot afford enough food - 1 mark.
2. Relative poverty: being poor compared with others in society, e.g. a family whose needs are met but whose income is far below the average - 1 mark.

Answer: Absolute poverty means being unable to meet the minimum basic needs (below the poverty line), like a family that goes hungry. Relative poverty means having much less than others in society, like a clerk's family compared with a director's, even if basic needs are met.

Causes of poverty (any five)

1. Rapid growth of population: a fast-growing population reduces per capita income and the resources available per person, and large families have more dependants.
2. Unemployment and underemployment: people without enough work have little or no income.
3. Low productivity in agriculture: a large share of people depends on farming, where small holdings, old methods and dependence on the monsoon keep incomes low.
4. Unequal distribution of income and assets: land, wealth and capital are concentrated with a few, so the gains of growth do not reach the poor.
5. Illiteracy and lack of skills: uneducated people get only low-paid, insecure jobs.
6. Inflation (rising prices): when prices of food and essentials rise faster than incomes, the poor can buy less and more people fall below the poverty line.
7. Slow and uneven economic growth and inadequate infrastructure in backward regions.
8. Social factors: the caste system, dowry, costly social ceremonies and debt to moneylenders.

Worked example

(2 marks) How does rapid population growth cause poverty?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. It reduces per capita income and the land, capital and food available per person - 1 mark.
2. Large families have more dependants and less to spend on each member's food, health and education, keeping them poor - 1 mark.

Answer: When population grows faster than output, income and resources per person fall; large families have more mouths to feed and less to invest in health and education, so poverty persists.

Unemployment and its types

Unemployment is a situation in which people who are able and willing to work at the current wage rate cannot find work. (Children, the old, the sick, and those who do not want work are not counted as unemployed.)

Types in the syllabus:
1. Seasonal unemployment: people are without work during certain months of the year because the work they do is seasonal. Example: farm labourers who have no work between harvest and the next sowing; workers in ice-cream factories in winter; hotel staff in hill stations off-season.
2. Structural unemployment: long-term unemployment caused by changes in the structure of the economy: the demand for some skills or industries falls, or there is a mismatch between the skills workers have and the jobs available, or not enough capital to employ the growing labour force. Example: handloom weavers losing work when power looms and mills take over; typists when computers spread.
3. Technological unemployment: unemployment caused when new machines and technology replace workers. Example: bank tellers replaced by ATMs and online banking; toll-booth staff replaced by electronic toll collection; manual workers replaced by robots in car factories.

Structural unemployment is broad and long-lasting; technological unemployment is the part caused directly by new machines.

Worked example

(2 marks) Identify the type of unemployment: (a) sugar mill workers without work after the crushing season; (b) ticket checkers whose jobs disappear when automatic gates are installed at a metro station.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. (a) Work exists only during the crushing season: seasonal unemployment - 1 mark.
2. (b) Workers replaced by machines: technological unemployment - 1 mark.

Answer: (a) Seasonal unemployment; (b) technological unemployment.

Causes of unemployment (any five)

1. Rapid growth of population: the labour force grows faster than the number of new jobs.
2. Slow economic growth: if output and investment grow slowly, too few jobs are created.
3. Dependence on agriculture: farming is seasonal and overcrowded, so many are seasonally unemployed or disguisedly unemployed (more people working than needed).
4. Defective education system: education that is mostly bookish and not job-oriented produces graduates without the skills employers want (skill mismatch).
5. Use of capital-intensive technology: modern industries use machines that employ few workers.
6. Decline of cottage and small industries: competition from large factories destroys traditional jobs.
7. Lack of capital and infrastructure: shortage of capital, power and roads limits new enterprises.
8. Immobility of labour: attachment to family and home, language differences and lack of information stop workers from moving to where jobs are.

Worked example

(2 marks) How does a defective education system cause unemployment?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Education that is theoretical and not job-oriented does not give practical or vocational skills - 1 mark.
2. Graduates then lack the skills employers need, so they remain unemployed even when vacancies exist (skill mismatch) - 1 mark.

Answer: When education is bookish rather than skill-based, young people finish their studies without the practical skills employers want, so many stay unemployed while jobs needing skills remain unfilled.

Government programmes: MGNREGA and IRDP (with JRY, PKVY, HRIDAY in brief)

1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), passed in 2005 (the syllabus writes 'MNREGA').
Objectives:
(a) To guarantee at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
(b) To provide a legal right to work: if work is not given within 15 days of applying, an unemployment allowance is payable.
(c) To create durable assets in villages, such as ponds, check dams, rural roads and plantations, which also help agriculture.
(d) To strengthen the livelihood of the rural poor, reduce distress migration to cities and empower women (at least one-third of the beneficiaries are to be women).

2. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), started in 1978-79 and extended to all development blocks in 1980.
Objectives:
(a) To raise rural poor families above the poverty line through self-employment.
(b) To provide them with income-generating assets, such as milch cattle, a small shop or tools, through a mix of government subsidy and bank credit.
(c) To target the poorest: small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans, with priority to disadvantaged groups and women.
In 1999 IRDP was merged into a new self-employment programme (Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana).

Others named in the syllabus (recognition only):

• JRY (Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, 1989): wage employment for the rural unemployed through rural works.
• PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana): promotes organic farming through clusters of farmers.
• HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana): develops infrastructure and preserves the heritage of selected heritage cities, which also creates local livelihoods.

Worked example

(2 marks) State two objectives of MGNREGA.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. To guarantee at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adults volunteer for unskilled manual work - 1 mark.
2. To create durable assets such as ponds, roads and check dams in villages (also: reduce migration, empower women) - 1 mark.

Answer: (1) To guarantee at least 100 days of paid unskilled manual work a year to every rural household that asks for it. (2) To create durable rural assets such as water bodies and roads while strengthening the livelihood of the poor.

Poverty and Unemployment in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Poverty Line, Absolute and Relative Poverty and Causes of Poverty
• Unemployment, Its Types and Causes, and the MGNREGA and IRDP Programmes

Poverty and Unemployment: key facts

Calorie norm

Rural: 2,400 calories per person per day; Urban: 2,100 calories per person per day

Task force, 1979.

Family calorie need

Need = number of members × calorie norm

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate (%) = Unemployed ÷ Labour force × 100

Labour force = employed + unemployed looking for work.

Types

Seasonal (season), Structural (structure or skill mismatch), Technological (machines)

MGNREGA

At least 100 days of wage employment per rural household per financial year

Act of 2005.

IRDP

Self-employment: assets for the rural poor through subsidy + bank credit

1978-79; all blocks 1980.

Poverty and Unemployment: diagrams to practise

Practise each one on paper: draw it from the checklist, then tick off every label.

How the school exam asks Poverty and Unemployment

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Poverty and Unemployment

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• 24-21

  Rural 2,400, urban 2,100: villages work harder, so they need 300 more.

  Use it when: Poverty line norms.

• PULI-I

  Population, Unemployment, Low farm productivity, Inequality, Illiteracy (plus Inflation).

  Use it when: Causes of poverty.

• STT

  Seasonal = Seasons, Structural = Structure, Technological = Technology.

  Use it when: Types of unemployment.

• Wage versus self

  MGNREGA gives Wages; IRDP gives an asset to work for yourself.

  Use it when: Distinguishing the two schemes.

Poverty and Unemployment: exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section B style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 9-mark question split into 2 + 2 + 5 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Poverty and Unemployment

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Swapping the rural and urban calorie norms

  Students remember the two numbers but not which is which.

  Wrong working

  '2,100 rural, 2,400 urban'

  Right working

  '2,400 rural, 2,100 urban, per person per day'

  ✓Do this: Villages do more physical work, so they get the bigger number.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Leaving out 'per person per day'

  A calorie figure without the unit is incomplete.

  ✓Do this: Always write 'calories per person per day'.

  Usually costs: ½ to 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Calling every machine-related job loss 'structural'

  The syllabus treats technological unemployment separately.

  ✓Do this: Machines directly replacing workers = technological.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Writing scheme names without objectives

  The syllabus asks for programmes 'with the objectives'.

  ✓Do this: Full name, year, two or three objectives.

  Usually costs: Most of the marks.

• ✗Mistake: Overlapping causes

  'Population growth' and 'large families' count as one point.

  ✓Do this: Choose five clearly different causes.

  Usually costs: 1 mark per repeated point.

Practice questions on Poverty and Unemployment

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   Which of these is technological unemployment?
   (a) Farm workers idle after harvest
   (b) Typists losing jobs when computers arrive
   (c) A graduate choosing not to work
   (d) Hotel staff idle in the off-season

   Hint

   Machines replacing workers.

   Answer

   (b) Typists losing jobs when computers arrive.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   MGNREGA guarantees wage employment of at least ______ days a year to a rural household.
   (a) 50
   (b) 100
   (c) 150
   (d) 200

   Hint

   A round number.

   Answer

   (b) 100.

3. Q3 · 2 marks · Very short answerExam level

   Define unemployment. Who is not counted as unemployed?

   Hint

   Able and willing.

   Answer

   Unemployment is a situation where people able and willing to work at the current wage cannot find work. Children, the old, the sick and those who do not wish to work are not counted as unemployed.

4. Q4 · 2 marks · Very short answerExam level

   State two objectives of IRDP.

   Hint

   Self-employment, assets.

   Answer

   (1) To raise rural poor families above the poverty line through self-employment. (2) To provide them income-generating assets through government subsidy and bank credit.

5. Q5 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder exam level

   How does inflation increase poverty?

   Hint

   Real income.

   Answer

   When prices of food and essentials rise faster than incomes, the poor can buy less with the same money; their real income falls and more families slip below the poverty line.

6. Q6 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   Explain two causes of unemployment linked to agriculture.

   Hint

   Seasons and overcrowding.

   Answer

   (1) Farming is seasonal, so workers are idle between seasons. (2) Too many people depend on small farms, so some are disguisedly unemployed: their removal would not reduce output.

7. Q7 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   A rural family of six consumes food giving 13,200 calories a day. Is it below the calorie-based poverty line? Show working.

   Hint

   6 × 2,400.

   Answer

   Need = 6 × 2,400 = 14,400 calories; intake 13,200 is 1,200 short (2,200 per person against 2,400). The family is below the poverty line.

8. Q8 · 2 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   'Removing unemployment is the surest way to remove poverty.' Give one argument for and one against.

   Hint

   Jobs versus low wages and other causes.

   Answer

   For: work gives income, which is the main way out of poverty. Against: many employed people earn too little (low wages, underemployment), and other causes such as inflation, illness and inequality also keep people poor.

9. Q9 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   Explain any five causes of unemployment in India and suggest one remedy for each.

   Hint

   Pair each cause with a remedy.

   Answer

   (1) Rapid population growth: population education and family welfare. (2) Slow growth of industry and investment: encourage investment and labour-intensive industries. (3) Seasonal farming: irrigation for multiple cropping, rural works such as MGNREGA. (4) Non-vocational education: vocational and skill training. (5) Capital-intensive technology: promote small-scale and cottage industries. (Also immobility of labour: better information and housing for migrants.)

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Rural and urban calorie norms?Show answer

   2,400 and 2,100 calories per person per day.

2. 2.Absolute poverty measures against what?Show answer

   A fixed minimum standard (the poverty line).

3. 3.Which unemployment is caused by machines replacing workers?Show answer

   Technological unemployment.

4. 4.When was MGNREGA passed?Show answer

   2005.

5. 5.What does IRDP provide?Show answer

   Income-generating assets for self-employment, through subsidy and bank credit.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Poverty: unable to meet basic needs; poverty line: 2,400 (rural) / 2,100 (urban) calories per person per day.
• ☐Absolute: below a fixed minimum. Relative: poorer than others.
• ☐Causes of poverty: population, unemployment, low farm productivity, inequality, illiteracy, inflation, social factors.
• ☐Unemployment: able and willing but no work.
• ☐Seasonal (seasons), structural (structure or skill mismatch), technological (machines).
• ☐Causes of unemployment: population, slow growth, seasonal farming, bookish education, capital-intensive methods, decline of small industries, immobility.
• ☐MGNREGA (2005): 100 days of wage work guaranteed; rural assets.
• ☐IRDP (1978-79): assets for self-employment via subsidy and credit.

Poverty and Unemployment: frequently asked questions