Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

Table 5.10
Distribution of savers and non-savers
(in Percentages)
Non-HIV households
HIV households
percent share in
percent share in
Household Income Household Income
All
Negative savers 3.33 3.49 33.66 29.98
Zero savers 53.53 43.01 45.37 35.55
Positive savers 43.14 53.5 20.98 34.47
Total 100 100 100 100
Rural
Negative savers 2.77 3.26 34.08 28.54
Zero savers 55.38 44.2 43.5 34.06
Positive savers 41.85 52.54 22.42 37.4
Total 100 100 100 100
Urban
Negative savers 3.98 3.69 33.16 30.94
Zero savers 51.36 42 47.59 36.56
Positive savers 44.67 54.31 19.25 32.5
Total 100 100 100 100
of income upto Rs. 20,000 the rate is
-26.80, it is -6.83 in the income group of
Rs. 30,001-41,000. In the income group
of Rs. 41,001-Rs. 84,000 and Rs. 84,000
and above, the rate of savings is positive
for HIV households as well. It is however,
lesser than the corresponding rates for
the non-HIV households. Even in HIV
households, the rate of savings has
increased with the increase in income.
On the whole, while non-HIV households
have a total rate of saving of 8.86 percent,
HIV households have a rate of -2.75
percent, and in every income class, the
rate of savings of HIV households is less
than that of the corresponding figure in
non-HIV households. Although the non-
HIV households in the sample are better
off economically than the HIV households,
this huge difference in savings can be
explained only on the basis of the burden
of diseases on HIV households.
5.3 Coping mechanism
An important question for the HIV
households is the method by which
they can cope with the additional
financial burden imposed on them
because of the member/members of
the household turning out to be HIVpositive.
One method of coping with the
financial burden/loss of income owing
to the infection could be liquidation
of assets or borrowings. In the case
of HIV households, this question was
specifically put to them; they were asked
whether they had to borrow or liquidate
any assets in order to cope with financial
burden/loss of income after the family
members tested positive. It needs to be
noted that this is not to be compared to
the change in savings presented above.
This question relates to liquidation of
assets/borrowings by HIV households
66 Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil Nadu, India