Nandita Saikia (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) Domantas Jasilionis (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) Faujdar Ram Vladimir M. Shkolnikov (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)
Abstract
This study examines the variation in mortality and mortality trends among different regions in India since the 1970s using data from the Sample Registration System (SRS). Evaluation of the SRS data quality confirms reliability for children and adults under the age of 60 years. Analysis of temporary life expectancy between the exact ages of 0 and 60 years shows that, after significant progress during the 1970s and 1980s, improvements in longevity slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s. The Gini coefficient and dispersion measure of mortality confirm the convergence of mortality across the regions in India between 1971–1975 and 2000–2004. In spite of this trend, a substantial difference between higher longevity in the south and lower longevity in the north was noteworthy in 2001–2004. Age decomposition of temporary life expectancy by age group 0–14 years and 15–59 years suggests that the steep longevity increase in the 1970s and 1980s was largely driven by a reduction in mortality in children under the age of 15 years. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the contribution of both young and adult age groups to longevity increase has diminished. India faces difficulties in making progress in further reductions of infant deaths to the minimum levels and also in fighting chronic and man-made diseases in individuals within older age groups.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany in its series MPIDR Working Papers with number
WP-2009-013.