Socio-Economic Inequality in the Occurrence of Disability in India: Evidence from a Large Scale Sample Survey

Abstract

Background: Inequalities in disabilities act as a brake on economic growth and development. As there is no direct mortality associated with disabilities, they remain at the bottom of the government’s priority list. So the studies related to disability in India are limited. Moreover, none of the studies used the inequality measures to understand the inequality in occurrence of these disabilities. Objective: We use data from India Human Development Survey conducted in 2004-05 to test the hypotheses: Occurrence of different kinds of disabilities is not associated with economic condition of the population. Methods: The present study had measured four outcome variables: locomotor disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment and speech disability. Persons who were unable to perform their chores or performed with difficulty were taken as disable. Bivariate analyses rich-poor ratio, Concentration curves, adjusted concentration indices, dominance test were used to understand economic inequality. Binary logistic regression models and Wald test were also used. Results: Findings of the study reject our hypothesis. Findings suggest huge socio-economic inequalities in the occurrence of different kinds of disability. Poorer sections of the society have the disproportionately higher prevalence of all types of disability.