At the edge of the plate: mapping social inequality through household consumption in India

The caste system in India continues to shape household access to resources, labour markets, and consumption opportunities. This study examines how consumption patterns among caste/social groups changed between 2011-12 and 2022-23.The study uses data from the Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys of 2011-12 and 2022-23. Food budget shares are estimated using Working-Leser Engel curves. Further, the analysis uses Theil and Gini indices, Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, and quantile regressions to examine inequality and caste gaps across the expenditure distribution.The results show that nominal per capita expenditure more than tripled, but real consumption increased by only 37 per cent in constant 2011-12 prices. All social groups shifted from food to non-food spending, yet ST and SC households continue to allocate a larger share of their budgets to food. Inter-group inequality declined from 11.1 to 8.4 per cent of total inequality, while intra-group inequality rose from 88.9 to 91.6 per cent. Observable factors explain most of the ST-Others gap, but nearly half of the SC-Others gap remains unexplained. The findings suggest that while living standards improved, caste continues to shape the level, composition, and distribution of household consumption in India.