Measure national success by how the poor actually live

By Sardar Khan Niazi

Most official accounts show Pakistan’s economy periodically turns the corner. GDP growth ticks up, reserves stabilize, deficits narrow, and international lenders express cautious approval. Yet for millions of households, especially the poorest, daily life tells a very different story. Food portions shrink, schooling becomes uncertain, healthcare is deferred, and work grows more precarious. If national success cannot be felt in the kitchens, clinics, and classrooms of poor households, then it is not success at all. The most honest measure of a nation’s progress should be how a poor household prospers in real terms not in headlines, not in averages, but in lived reality. Aggregate indicators conceal distribution. GDP per capita can rise even as the poorest fall behind. Fiscal consolidation may impress creditors while eroding public services relied upon by low-income families. For a poor household, prosperity is not abstract growth; it is whether monthly income buys more calories, better nutrition, safer housing, reliable electricity, clean water, affordable transport, and access to quality education and healthcare. If these essentials become less affordable, the economy is failing its most basic test. Prospering in real terms means sustained improvements after accounting for inflation, volatility, and risk. Poor households are especially exposed to price shocks because food and energy dominate their budgets. They also lack buffers — savings, insurance, political voice — to absorb crises. When inflation spikes or growth slows, they feel it first and hardest. A success metric grounded in real terms would ask: Has the cost of a nutritious food basket fallen relative to wages? Are children completing school rather than dropping out to work? Has preventable illness declined because primary healthcare is accessible and affordable? Are women’s time burdens easing through better transport, water, and childcare? Are informal workers gaining stability, skills, and protections? These questions define whether growth is inclusive........

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