India Human Development Survey Data Research Articles

Does Parental Out-migration Affect Nutritional Health Status and Morbidity Among Children? Evidence From India Human Development Survey Data for the Empowered Action Group States

In India, despite having high economic growth, considerable inter-state inequality exists across states in terms of per capita income as well as employment opportunities. The eight Empowered Action Group (EAG) states, which have performed poorly on different accounts of social and physical infrastructure, are also characterised by large inter-state migration for employment. Parental out-migration from these states affects different aspects of child well-being. The present study tries to assess nutritional health status, morbidity and health care utilisation among children based on their parents’ migration status. The results show that parents’ migration status plays a vital role in influencing the prevalence of common childhood diseases and malnutrition among children in EAG states. Multi-prolonged and decentralised strategies are required towards developing and implementing comprehensive nutrition and nutrition-related education programme for the children in these states.

Lasting impact on health from natural disasters, potential mechanisms and mitigating effects

AbstractExposure to extreme shocks in early life is found to have a lasting impact in adulthood. Exploiting the variation in exposure measured by age and intensity of an earthquake, we evaluate the impact of a 7.7 MW earthquake in Gujarat, India, on the health stock of children who were in utero or below three years. Using the India Human Development Survey data from 2004–05 and earthquake intensity data, we find an affected girl child to be shorter by at least 2.5 cm at the age of 3–6 years. The earthquake seems to have destroyed the household infrastructures and health facilities, affecting the expecting mothers and newborn children. The households using services to meet nutritional needs of children and pregnant women seem to be least affected. Our findings recommend faster reconstruction activities and highlight the importance of universal healthcare and nutritional delivery services to mitigate the impacts of early-life shocks.

Single Versus Multiple Deprivations Among Children in India

Multidimensional deprivation among children is a critical issue. The present study explores the multidimensional deprivation of children based on India Human Development Survey data, 2011–2012. A modified Bristol method and multidimensional deprivation approach have been used to measure the extent of deprivation. The study compares the results of multidimensional deprivation based on non-monetary indicators with the monetary measure of poverty. Further, a logistic regression model is used to examine the determinants of multidimensional deprivation among children. Findings suggest that the multidimensional poverty among children was much higher in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and was also much higher compared to monetary-based poverty measures. Logistic regression results indicate that if a child belongs to an educated mother, then the chances of multidimensional deprivation are lower. On the contrary, if a child belongs to a marginalised community, like the scheduled tribes or scheduled castes and/or rural areas and poorest consumption class, the chances of child deprivation increase. A major policy implication of the study is that dimension-specific social policy for children in the targeted regions needs to be developed.

Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework

Do students attending private schools learn more and have higher cognitive abilities than their public school counterparts in India? Though some recent works have discussed this question, the empirical contours to address the issue remain unclear, particularly in a diversifying school education market in India. This paper examines the factors determining the inequality in children’s learning outcomes (i.e., reading and math scores) in India using the second round of India Human Development Survey data. We examine the effect of a child’s ‘school absenteeism’ and ‘time spent for studying and doing homework’ on learning outcomes, and how these explain the existing learning gap between private and government school children. We provide strong evidence that the children attending private schools have significantly better learning outcomes than their government school counterparts. However, this performance difference between private and government school-going children reduces with the increase in school attendance and the time spent in studying and doing homework by a child. The findings of the study implicate that the cognitive abilities of low performing government school students can be improved by reducing their absenteeism in schools and increasing time for studying and doing homework after school.

Income Inequality and Individual Health Status: Evidence from India

India has experienced a significant increase in income inequality in the past decade. It is widely accepted in the literature that income inequality is detrimental to individual health. Against this backdrop, the objective of the paper is to analyze the effect of income inequality on individual health status in the Indian context. We have examined two aspects: the impact of inequality on society in general and whether the effect of inequality is harsher on the poor as compared to the rich. We tested the income inequality hypothesis to answer the research questions. Using two rounds of India Human Development Survey data, a large-scale, nationally representative, panel data set collected in 2004–05 and 2011–12, we found a negative association between income inequality and individual health. Moreover, the poor are found to be the worst sufferers of income inequality and are more sensitive to ill health.

Effect of social capital on vulnerability to violence: empirical evidence from India

This paper is devoted to vulnerability to crime, which is a relatively neglected aspect in the literature on the Economics of crime. The India Human Development Survey data is used to empirically examine the relationship of vulnerability to crime (specifically attack or threat) with social capital, while controlling for economic status. It is found that aspects of social capital such as membership of religious or caste organizations, political connections and acquaintance with government officials play a role in determining household vulnerability to attack or threat. Furthermore, vulnerability seems to be persistent as well as higher in the survey round which was conducted around election time.

Distributional change, income mobility and pro-poor growth: evidence from India

The study of income inequality and income mobility has been central to understanding India’s recent economic development. This paper, based on the first two waves of the India Human Development survey data, addresses three questions namely; (a) examining recent trends and sources of income inequality and their sources in rural and urban India, (b) whether households belonging to different socio-occupational groups have grown together and thereby factors relating to dynamic income distribution and finally (c) provides an analytical framework within which changes in income inequality over time are related to the extent to which income growth is pro-poor and to the extent of income reranking or mobility. Our results show the equalizing effect of progressive income growth was more than offset by the disequalising effect of reranking in India during the study period resulting in income inequality both in the rural and urban area.

The Catch-Up Growth in Stunted Children: Analysis of First and Second India Human Development Survey Data.

Context:Change in stunting as the children grow older is rarely found in published literature.Aims:The present paper compares the change in the prevalence of stunting among children as they grow from 0–4 years to 7–11 years.Settings and Design:The present paper is a secondary analysis of India Human Development Survey-I (IHDS-I) (2005) and IHDS-II (2012) data for Kerala.Methods and Materials:In total, 411 children of age 0–4 years and 390 children of age 7–11 years with anthropometric measurements were included in the present study, respectively, from IHDS-I and IHDS-II.Statistical Analysis Used:The statistical analyses were done using SPSS 21.0. The prevalence of stunting was estimated. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the Pearson Chi-square test.Results:The prevalence of stunting among children has been drastically reduced (50.4% to 20.3%) while growing older from 0–4 years to 7–11 years.Conclusions:More than half of the stunted children below 5 years regained normal growth, as they grow older.

What lies behind income inequality and income mobility in India? Implications and the way forward

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine income inequality and income mobility, which have been central to understanding India’s recent economic development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses the first two waves of the India Human Development Survey data for the year 2004–2005 and 2011–2012 to analyze income inequality and income mobility using longitudinal data, and is the first to do so at a nationally representative level. In this research paper, we address three related research questions: How have been the patterns of income mobility in India? What are the trends, levels and sources of income inequality in India? and finally And What is the structure of household income mobility?FindingsThe paper examines the trends, levels, sources and factors of income inequality and income mobility in India between 2005 and 2012. The results further show the case for high persistence at the top of income distribution but lower persistence at the bottom.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack spatial analysis. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that, in the end, the nature of longer-term well-being is crucial to designing policy interventions to effectively tackle inequality, and economic mobility can be seen as an avenue to long-term equality.Social implicationsThis study can further be extended to look at polarization issues at the national and sub-national levels.Originality/valueThis paper shows the analytical framework of additive decomposition of income mobility out of two sources, namely mobility due to the transfer of income within given structure and mobility due to economic growth or contraction in rural and urban India.

OP61 Net Value Of Treating Hepatitis C With Newly Available Direct-Acting Antivirals

Introduction:Recently developed direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) are groundbreaking in their high efficacy across disease genotypes and lack of severe side effects. This study used a cost-of-illness (COI) approach to estimate the net value conferred by one of these novel drug combinations, sofosbuvir and velpatasir (SOF/VEL), recently licensed for generic manufacture in India.Methods:This study considered COI from lifetime earnings lost due to disability and premature death from HCV infection. Risk of death and disability in future years was calculated using a Markov state-transition model with parameters determined from the literature. The future earnings of sampled patients were predicted using an empirical earnings model, with coefficients determined from India Human Development Survey data. Costs to both the patient and secondarily infected individuals were considered.Results:Preliminary results suggested that curing individuals diagnosed with chronic HCV in India would preserve INR 3.7 million (USD 55,750) in earnings per person. For non-cirrhotic (NC) and compensated cirrhotic (CC) individuals, the expected benefits associated with preventing secondary infections were worth between one and forty-one percent of the value of benefits conferred to the diagnosed individuals (depending on sex and extent of liver damage). Treating decompensated cirrhotic (DC) individuals with DAAs alone offered minimal earnings benefits because these individuals will likely remain disabled and unable to work without a liver transplant. Expected net benefits of treatment were substantial for NC and CC patients, ranging from INR 640,349 (USD 9,531) for NC women to INR 10.7 million (USD 158,968) for CC men. The cost of treatment for DC individuals exceeded the expected earnings benefits.Conclusions:For average NC and CC individuals, the cost of treatment with SOF/VEL is offset by the benefits of increased future productivity. Increased earnings are not sufficient to offset the cost of treatment for DC individuals, but treatment may still be justified on the basis of the intrinsic value of health improvements and other treatment benefits.

Household social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in child undernutrition in rural India

Social capital has gained attention for poverty reduction efforts in low- and middle-income countries, but questions remain about people's unequal access to and benefits from social capital—especially for addressing child health inequalities. Analyzing 2005 India Human Development Survey data on 9008 rural-dwelling children and their families, we test hypotheses regarding how SES shapes household access to and child health benefits from three different forms of social capital located inside and outside the community. Specifically, we examine households' memberships in bonding and bridging organizations, which respectively connect people who are socio-demographically similar and dissimilar, and linking ties to representatives of formal institutions (health care, education, and government) who have power and privilege in society. Results indicate that greater household wealth is associated with each social capital form and amplifies the extent that linking ties to medical and educational institutions, and within-village bridging organizations are associated with lower odds of child underweight. Our findings warrant considering the unequal distribution, differential utility, and geographic location of social capital in designing efforts to address health inequalities.

Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses

AbstractUsing the 2004–2005 India Human Development Survey data, we estimate and decompose the earnings of household businesses owned by historically marginalized social groups known as Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCSTs) and non-SCSTs across the earnings distribution. We find clear differences in characteristics between the two types of businesses with the former faring significantly worse. The mean decomposition reveals that as much as 55 % of the caste earnings gap could be attributed to the unexplained component. Quantile regressions suggest that gaps are higher at lower deciles, providing some evidence of a sticky floor. Finally, quantile decompositions reveal that the unexplained component is greater at the lower and middle deciles than higher, suggesting that SCST-owned businesses at the lower and middle end of the conditional earnings distribution face greater discrimination.

Employment, chronic disease prevalence and medical care among the older population in India: an assessment of linkages

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the linkages of employment, chronic disease prevalence and medical care of the older population in India.Design/methodology/approach– This study used the India Human Development Survey data for the analysis. Bivariate, multinomial logit regression and multiple classification analysis are used as methods for the study.Findings– The findings suggest a bi-directional relationship between employment and chronic diseases: the older population who are engaged in regular paid work has lower likelihood to the risk of chronic diseases compared to those who are not working. Conversely, the older population with chronic diseases may be unable to work in regular paid jobs. The greater proportions of not-working older population with savings and retirement pensions are more likely to seek modern treatment for the chronic diseases. Overall, the results foster that employment determines and is determined by chronic disease prevalence among the older population in India.Originality/value– This paper for the first time presents evidence on the linkages of employment, chronic disease prevalence and medical care of the older population in India by using a unique and comprehensive data source.

Is Self-Employment the Answer to Caste Discrimination? Decomposing the Earnings Gap in Indian Household Nonfarm Businesses

Using the India Human Development Survey data for 2004-05, we employ two methodologies to estimate the earnings structure of household nonfarm businesses owned by Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCSTs) and non-SCSTs: OLS estimation of mean earnings, and quantile regressions. Correspondingly, we use two decomposition methods: the conventional Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and Melly’s (2006) refinement of the Machado and Mata (2005) decomposition of quantile gaps. We find clear differences in characteristics between SCST-owned and non-SCST owned businesses. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition reveals that depending on the specification of explanatory variables, as much as 70 percent of the earnings gap could be attributed to the or the discriminatory component. Quantile regressions reveal that gaps are higher at lower deciles than the higher ones (both raw gaps, as well as after controlling for characteristics), and the decompositions show that the unexplained component is higher at the lower deciles than higher, suggesting that SCST-owned businesses at the lower end of the conditional distribution face greater discrimination, as compared to those at the higher end. Thus, we find strong evidence of a sticky floor, a phenomenon observed for gender wage gaps in developing countries (in contrast to a glass ceiling in developed countries).

Burden of multiple disabilities among the older population in India

PurposeThe aim of this study is twofold, first, to estimate the prevalence of multiple disabilities among the older population in India; second, to examine the socio economic determinants of multiple disabilities among the older population.Design/methodology/approachThis study used the India Human Development Survey Data (IHDS) for the analysis. Bivariate, multinomial logit regression and multiple classification analysis are used as methods for the study. Disability score is constructed for measuring the multiple disabilities among the older population.FindingsThe results of disability prevalence show, a high prevalence of multiple disabilities among the older population in India. Further, disability prevalence varies considerably by age and socio‐economic characteristics of the older population. Among all the socioeconomic factors, economic factor emerged as a dominant predictor of prevalence of disabilities among the older population in India. The findings of the dimension specific assessment reveal that the disability in walking is the highest among all the disabilities. The distribution of disabled older population by living arrangement and the social network indicates that a large proportion of disabled older population lives with their children. In addition, only a few of the disabled older people have social networks. The distribution of disabled older people by employment and financial source reveal that there is a meager government support to the disabled older population in India. This study evidently suggests that a significant number of older populations in India are suffering from multiple disabilities. The number of multiple disabilities increases with the decrease in the socioeconomic status. The living arrangement and financial security assessment suggest that there is an increasing need of children and government support to the disabled older population.Originality/valueThe distinctiveness of this study can be primarily found in the type of the data used, the assessment of additional disability dimensions, and the inclusion of differentials such as living arrangement, social network and work status as part of the analysis. Overall, the study with its robust statistical assessment provides a number of key insights into the social, economic security, and health care needs of the disabled older population in India.