Measuring Household Economic Status in Rural Bangladesh: Can Asset Based Indicators Replace Household Income and Expenditure?

Shamali Shill

Abstract

This study aims to assess whether an asset based index of economic status correlates better with indices of health and social deprivation than do household income and expenditure. Two sets of data were used to investigate this-Matlab Health and Socioeconomic Survey 1996 and Socioeconomic Census Matlab, 1996. Results show that household assets are significantly correlated with household income and consumption expenditure, but the correlation with expenditure (r² 0.32) is higher than with income (r² 0.10). In the case of inequality, children’s nutritional status and their educational enrollment are not significantly correlated with household income, but they are significantly and consistently correlated with household assets and expenditure. Among all the economic indicators, household assets show larger inequality (measured by poor: rich ratio) in these health and social outcomes.

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