When it comes to inequality, South Africa does the worst among the BRICS. As the chart below shows, South Africa's Gini coefficient was the highest. In comparison to India in particular; South Africa was at 0.67 in the early 1990s and the Gini coefficient has increased to almost 0.70, while India is at 0.37, resulting in a difference of 0. 33 in the coefficient. However, while it is true that South Africa's Gini coefficient shows a higher inequality value in India, the increase in India's Gini coefficient is greater than that of South Africa. This means that inequality in India increased more in the late 2000s than in the early 1990s than in South Africa, leaving people worse off than before. Although economic growth in India has been significant, the standard of living of the population has not yet changed so radically. . Growth in India has led to an increase in the rate of inequality, as noted above. The main reason for this situation could be the fact that highly productive areas, such as the tertiary sector, have failed to create an adequate level of employment. This is due to the low skill level of the Indian population. Even though India enjoys a demographic dividend, it will only produce results when the young population enjoys good health, education and necessary skills. Until India addresses this problem, inequality will not decrease. Another factor aggravating inequality is racial discrimination in South Africa. In India, a caste system prevails, which leads to income inequality solely due to a person not being at the top of the caste system. A man from a lower caste can work more than a man from a higher caste while earning less. Lack of skills and caste system prevent India from defeating...... middle of paper...... 27.1 million in 2006. The food line is the poverty line below which people can afford adequate food but would have to sacrifice food to purchase non-food items and the upper threshold is the poverty line marking the level at which people can purchase both food and adequate non-food items. In terms of the lower poverty line, that is, a threshold that is higher than the food threshold but lower than the upper threshold: 32.3% of the population, or approximately 16.3 million people, lived in poverty in 2011, which represents a reduction from the 42.2% or 20 million people living in poverty in 2006. The effect of the global crisis The economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 resulted in an increase in the number of people living below the food line, from 12.6 million people in 2006 to 15.8 million in 2009. However, this effect on South Africa's poorest was lessened in 2011, as it is fell to 10.2 million people per 2011.