Engel’s Law and the pandemic’s impact on our food expenditure https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/engels-law-and-the-pandemic-s-impact-on-our-food-expenditure-11644945106074.html
Most households spent larger portions of their income on food but covid disruptions were particularly harsh on the poorest
The Engel curves for food, which show how household expenditure on it varies with household income, shifted upwards between January and April 2020. In urban areas, before-versus-after gaps in food-budget shares in this period were wider for higher-income deciles than for lower- income deciles. This may partly be attributed to higher expenses on food sourced from outside, ready-to-cook/eat meals and consumption of more expensive foods as people worked from home. In rural areas, the gap was widest for the lowest decile, with a narrowing for middle deciles and widening at higher deciles. That the poorest in rural areas were worst affected by the lockdown is not surprising. While the overall Engel curve shifted downward once lockdown restrictions were lifted, it remained above the pre-pandemic levels even after the fierce second wave subsided....
India’s finance ministry decided to cut the Centre’s food subsidy by about 28%, money for mid-day meals by 12% and funds for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act by 25% in the budget for 2022-23 (compared to allocations for 2021-22). This would reflect not just insensitivity to the needs of our poor, but also an ill-informed view that India’s growth was stalled by a deficiency of investment rather than demand.