INTER-HOUSEHOLD TRANSFERs AND THE PooR: Pakistan's Experience

Intern-household transfers are one of the major sources of income (consumption) of recipient households. The focus of the paper is to estimate the impact of these transfers on poverty alleviation in Pakistan. Basic Needs Approach has been used to estimate the poverty line. Head-count, poverty gap, and FGT Poverty Indices have been used to find the extent of poverty and severity of poverty in the country. Results are derived from Household Income and Expenditure Survey (1987-88) and Household Integrated Economic Survey (1990-91). Findings show that inter-household transfers alleviated poverty by 14.0 percent in 1987-88 and 13.56 percent in 1990-91. Poverty gap (P1) and severity of poverty (P2) were significantly reduced due to these transfers. The effect of these transfers on poverty alleviation is stronger in the rural areas than in urban areas of Pakistan.