Vulnerability to poverty is a measure, which describes the greater probability of certain communities (say, members of a backward caste) or individuals (such as a widow or a physically handicapped person) of becoming or remaining poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is determined by the option available to different communities for finding alternative living in terms of asset’s, education, health and job opportunities. Further, it is analysed on the basis of the greater risks these groups face at the time of natural disasters, terrorism, etc. Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks. In fact, vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people when bad time comes for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a fall in the availability of jobs.
