A JuxtConsult – Indicus Analytics Joint Study Understanding the Indian ‘Families’ as Consumption Units Consumers live their lives as ‘families’ and not households. And family consumptions get driven by the all the people living in them and not just by the ‘chief wage earner’ of the house How a family consumes gets defined as much by the ‘family composition’ and the ‘lifecycle stage’ the family is in, as by its socio-economic status and the ‘ability to spend’ It is therefore important to ‘distinguish’ and understand families by their ‘member composition’ to target them appropriately Topline Findings The Macro Picture There are approx. 226 million families in India* (72 mn urban, 154 mn rural) The average family size varies from 1 to 6.9 depending on the family composition 25 mn Indian families (11% of all families) have more than 1 earning member 28 mn Indians (2.5%) prefer to read in English, marginally more than Malayalam. 50% of Indians preferring to read in English live in rural areas Average monthly family income in India is Rs.5,930 (‘per capita’ is Rs.1,350) 70% of all Indian families earn average to below-average incomes At 30%, highest proportion of families belong to SEC ‘R4’ 19.5 million families (27% of urban, or 9% of all Indian families) belong to SEC ‘A’ and ‘B’ Chief wage earners of 87% of SEC ‘A’ and 36% of SEC ‘B’ families are graduates No SEC ‘C’ and ‘R1’ chief wage earners are graduates. But 15% SEC ‘C’ families and 22% SEC ‘R1’ families have a graduate member within the household Clearly then, defining the socio-economic status (SEC) of a household using education level of the ‘chief wage earner’ is losing its meaning and can often mislead Looking at Families by ‘Lifecycle’ Stage 51% Indians are married. But only 1 in 5 Indian family (21%) is a 3-generation joint family, or ‘Dynasties’ An equal proportion of Indian families (21%) are ‘Baby Sitters’ - with the eldest child below 12 years in age The majority 45% of Indian families are ‘Maturing Mentors’, or families with the youngest child above 12 years in age Young married couples without any children, the ‘Nest Builders’, account for only 7% of all Indian families The single independents, or ‘Free Birds’, account for only 1.3% of all Indian families Dynasties have the highest average monthly family incomes (Rs. 6,530). But they have the lowest average ‘per capita’ monthly incomes (Rs.975) Free birds show the second highest average monthly family incomes (Rs.6,385), and the highest average ‘per capita’ monthly incomes (Rs.6,385)* Rented accommodation is highest among Free Birds (at 35%). Dynasties show the highest incidence of ‘inherited’ property (at 74%) Automobile ownership (both cars and 2-wheelers) is highest among Dynasties Preference for reading in English is relatively highest among ‘Free Birds’ (6%) and lowest among ‘Dynasties’ (0.5%) How a Family Rupee is being Spent!