Subsistence Minimum

A more refined method is the computation of the Subsistence Minimum—a concept of the old Soviet methodology. This is also calculated in different ways. Some determine it in terms of the Food Basket. For each member of the household, an appropriate number of calories are allocated depending on the person’s age and sex, and then the cost for the purchase of food items equivalent to those calories is calculated. Thus, the total amount of money needed to buy food for the family, satisfying the calorie norm, is defined as the subsistence minimum. The standards set by FAO and WHO are also employed for this purpose; these standards indicate the calorie value of each food item. This method is criticized on the ground that people eat food not only for its calorific value, but also for taste and cultural prescriptions. As such, computation must be done on the basis of what people really eat, and not on what they should eat. However, people using this measure fix the subsistence minimum differently for different regions because of the differences in the prices of food items. Using this technique, the Subsistence Minimum for the Soviet Union, before its collapse, was fixed at 190 Roubles per capita per month, which was more than US$ 220 at 1990 exchange rates. Accordingly, 11.4 per cent of the population was identified as poor. This figure rose to 31 per cent in 1993 at the 1990 price standard based on PPP.