Inter-regional socioeconomic disparity levels within rural Sindh

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of socioeconomic disparity levels in rural Sindh. Determining the reasons behind such disparity is not the scope of this research.  Previous studies reflected that compared to lower Sindh, upper Sindh has performed better as per socioeconomic indicators such as health and literacy rate, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) calculated shows no such pattern on a closer look. Even though the MPI values for upper Sindh district are lower in comparison to lower Sindh, the intensity of poverty in upper Sindh is extreme. Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement (PSLM) household survey questionnaire was used to calculate the MPI of various districts selected through a stratified sampling technique. The results show the MPI values for districts in lower Sindh reflect a greater incidence of poverty compared to upper Sindh. However, the intensity of deprivation in upper Sindh is higher. For instance, the MPI value recorded for Qambar, an upper Sindh district was 0.091 and the intensity of poverty recorded was 0.67.