The Lottery of Birth Remains: Poverty and Inequality Within and Between Socio-Religious Groups in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract This study utilises a unique survey of 7,101 households from Uttar Pradesh, India, to conduct the first comprehensive measurement of poverty and inequality across consumption, wealth, and landholding at the sub-caste (biradari) level. Our findings reveal prominent disparities in poverty incidence, ranging from 6% among Brahmins to 55% among Paasis. The analysis also demonstrates substantial vertical economic inequality within broad social-religious groups, with Gini coefficients of 0.36 for consumption, 0.72 for wealth, and 0.66 for landholding across sub-castes. The results highlight significant variations between poverty and inequality by sub-caste. We further identify a positive correlation between social exclusion/untouchability practices and poverty across districts. The role of caste, land size and Intergenerational occupation attainment and household head education status emerge as significant predictors of sub-caste inequality in household consumption and wealth value. This study contributes significantly to the economic literature on caste stratification, discrimination, and human development.