Economic Shocks and the Urban Lower Middle Class in Kerala: Some Theoretical and Empirical Insights on Transitory Poverty

This study examines the consumption behaviour of the urban lower middle class (ULMC) amid economic shocks like recessions and pandemics by considering the rural lower middle class (RLMC) and the poor (both urban and rural) as reference categories. From the data collected during the period of lockdown, the study found that the ULMC was forced to prune food consumption significantly higher than the poor and RLMC, which is proxied in the study in terms of the current stock of food grains and pulses. It is suggested that a powerful stimulus in terms of a temporary social safety net is a necessity to get the ULMC out of a vicious circle and transitory poverty.