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Pathways of Economic Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health in Urban India: A Decomposition Analysis

Author

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  • Srinivas Goli
  • Riddhi Doshi
  • Arokiasamy Perianayagam

Abstract

Background/Objective: Children 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. Methods: Using 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. Results: The 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. Conclusion: 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Srinivas Goli & Riddhi Doshi & Arokiasamy Perianayagam, 2013. "Pathways of Economic Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health in Urban India: A Decomposition Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-8, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0058573
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058573
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    1. José Antonio Rodríguez Martín & Juan Dios Jiménez Aguilera & José Antonio Salinas Fernández & José María Martín Martín, 2016. "Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5: Progress in the Least Developed Countries of Asia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 489-504, November.
    2. Narjinary, Glory & Goli, Srinivas, 2024. "Diverging destinies: How children are faring under demographic transition," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Toshiaki Aizawa, 2019. "Transition of the BMI distribution in India: evidence from a distributional decomposition analysis," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 3-36, April.
    4. Niko Speybroeck & Carine Van Malderen & Sam Harper & Birgit Müller & Brecht Devleesschauwer, 2013. "Simulation Models for Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-31, November.
    5. Md. Nuruzzaman Khan & Pushpendra Kumar & Md. Mijanur Rahman & Md. Nazrul Islam Mondal & M. Mofizul Islam, 2020. "Inequalities in Utilization of Maternal Reproductive Health Care Services in Urban Bangladesh: A Population-Based Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, March.
    6. Rafael Plessow & Narendra Kumar Arora & Beatrice Brunner & Christina Tzogiou & Klaus Eichler & Urs Brügger & Simon Wieser, 2015. "Social Costs of Iron Deficiency Anemia in 6–59-Month-Old Children in India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Shreya Banerjee & Indrani Roy Chowdhury, 2020. "Inequities in curative health-care utilization among the adult population (20–59 years) in India: A comparative analysis of NSS 71 st (2014) and 75 th (2017–18) rounds," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Srinivas Goli & Tamal Reja & Riddhi Doshi & Swastika Chakravorty & Chhavi Tiwari & Nomita P. Kumar & Deepshikha Singh, 2017. "Prevalence of Anemia and Its Determinants Among Pregnant, Lactating, and Nonpregnant Nonlactating Women in India," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, August.
    9. Madhu Gupta & Federica Angeli & Hans Bosma & Monica Rana & Shankar Prinja & Rajesh Kumar & Onno C P van Schayck, 2016. "Effectiveness of Multiple-Strategy Community Intervention in Reducing Geographical, Socioeconomic and Gender Based Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in Haryana, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, March.
    10. Srinivas, Goli, 2014. "Demographic convergence and its linkage with health inequalities in India," MPRA Paper 79823, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Dec 2014.
    11. Meena Sehgal & Santosh Jatrana & Louise Johnson, 2024. "A comprehensive health index for India: development, validation, and spatial variation," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1-31, September.
    12. Meena Sehgal & Santosh Jatrana & Louise Johnson & Sujit K. Ghosh, 2024. "Assessing Child Health in India: Development and Validation of a Comprehensive Child Health Index," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(2), pages 657-682, April.
    13. Aneela Sultana & Mahwish Zeeshan & Sohima Anzak, 2022. "A Phenomenological Analysis of Rural Women’s Childbirth Preferences," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    14. Randive, Bharat & San Sebastian, Miguel & De Costa, Ayesha & Lindholm, Lars, 2014. "Inequalities in institutional delivery uptake and maternal mortality reduction in the context of cash incentive program, Janani Suraksha Yojana: Results from nine states in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-6.

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