Abstract
Background/ObjectiveChildren and women comprise vulnerable populations in terms of health and are gravely affected by the impact of economic inequalities through multi-dimensional channels. Urban areas are believed to have better socioeconomic and maternal and child health indicators than rural areas. This perception leads to the implementation of health policies ignorant of intra-urban health inequalities. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explain the pathways of economic inequalities in maternal and child health indicators among the urban population of India.MethodsUsing data from the third wave of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2005–06), this study calculated relative contribution of socioeconomic factors to inequalities in key maternal and child health indicators such as antenatal check-ups (ANCs), institutional deliveries, proportion of children with complete immunization, proportion of underweight children, and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Along with regular CI estimates, this study applied widely used regression-based Inequality Decomposition model proposed by Wagstaff and colleagues.ResultsThe CI estimates show considerable economic inequalities in women with less than 3 ANCs (CI = −0.3501), institutional delivery (CI = −0.3214), children without fully immunization (CI = −0.18340), underweight children (CI = −0.19420), and infant deaths (CI = −0.15596). Results of the decomposition model reveal that illiteracy among women and her partner, poor economic status, and mass media exposure are the critical factors contributing to economic inequalities in maternal and child health indicators. The residuals in all the decomposition models are very less; this implies that the above mentioned factors explained maximum inequalities in maternal and child health of urban population in India.ConclusionFindings suggest that illiteracy among women and her partner, poor economic status, and mass media exposure are the critical pathways through which economic factors operate on inequalities in maternal and child health outcomes in urban India.
Highlights
There has been an exponential rise in urban population around the globe during the last century [1,2]
Results of the decomposition model reveal that illiteracy among women and her partner, poor economic status, and mass media exposure are the critical factors contributing to economic inequalities in maternal and child health indicators
Findings suggest that illiteracy among women and her partner, poor economic status, and mass media exposure are the critical pathways through which economic factors operate on inequalities in maternal and child health outcomes in urban India
Summary
There has been an exponential rise in urban population around the globe during the last century [1,2]. The global urban population almost quadrupled from 732 million in 1950 to an estimated 3.2 billion in 2005. The proportion of urban population increased from just 13% in 1900 to 49% in 2005 [3]. The proportion of urban population is expected to increase to 57% by 2025 [4]. As per provisional reports from the 2011 Census of India, almost one third (377 million) of India’s population resides in urban areas [5]. This number is projected to rise to 432 million by 2021 [6]
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