A Demographic Study of the Multidimensional Poverty of Women in India

Foremost in the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) of the 2030 Agenda, is the goal of achieving “No Poverty”. With nearly a decade yet to go, it is imperative to know the true nature and extent of poverty so that steps can be taken to eradicate poverty in all its forms. Multidimensional Poverty is a problem that persists on a larger extent in a developing country such as India, particularly among its women. The study uses the Demographic Health Survey data – India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS), a nationwide survey conducted with a representative sample of women aged 15 to 49 throughout the country, to shed light on the nature and extent of deprivations faced by them. The deprivations faced by the women are measured along the dimensions of education, health and standard of living as per the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) jointly developed by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Findings reveal that one-fifth of women in India are multidimensionally poor. Further subgroup decomposition reveals that higher levels of deprivations are found in women living alone, with higher age, having more number of children, widowed or divorced, husbands having multiple wives, those having more than one union and married before the legal age of marriage. The Government needs to focus its attention on the most deprived groups of women. Based on the nature and the extent of deprivations that they face, appropriate measures must be taken to bring them out of their destitution.