IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/18813.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

MDGs and gender inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Vani S. Kulkarni
  • Manoj Pandey
  • Raghav Gaiha

Abstract

As the countdown to 2015 has begun, debates about the continuation of the MDGs and their reformulation have taken on greater urgency and significance. Our view is that there is a need to reformulate them to better reflect deprivations and inequities that are pervasive but not sufficiently emphasised in the present version. A case in point is gender inequality. While various dimensions of gender inequality are included in the MDGs, we argue that these reflect a somewhat narrow focus – especially because the deprivation that women face from the womb to the rest of their lives – is not fully captured. Following Amartya Sen and others, we focus on the phenomenon of ‘missing women’ that best captures the cumulative impact of multiple deprivations to which they are subjected. Our analysis reinforces the case for this measure, and broadens and updates recent estimates of missing girls and women. The key questions addressed are the reasons underlying the continuing increase in the number of missing women in China and India. We broaden this measure by including: (i) missing adult women; (ii) excess maternal mortality ratio; (iii) casualties resulting from violent conflicts and the forms these take; and (iv) domestic violence against women. Even though the magnitudes differ, these together are a brutal violation of women’s human rights that remains pervasive in a large part of the developing world – especially Asia and North Africa. The perspective on gender inequality offered here may seem daunting, but raises concerns that go much beyond the somewhat narrow focus that the MDGs embody. The policy implications are accordingly more formidable, but underline the centrality of women’s empowerment through education and employment opportunities, social networks that give women voice to express their concerns arising from life-long deprivations that often take brutal forms, expansion of health services to reduce infant and maternal mortality risks, and enforcement of laws that penalise violation of women’s human rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Vani S. Kulkarni & Manoj Pandey & Raghav Gaiha, 2013. "MDGs and gender inequality," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 18813, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:18813
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/bwpi/bwpi-wp-18813.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mayra Buvinic & Monica Das Gupta & Ursula Casabonne & Philip Verwimp, 2013. "Violent Conflict and Gender Inequality: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 110-138, February.
    2. Baez, Javier E., 2011. "Civil wars beyond their borders: The human capital and health consequences of hosting refugees," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 391-408, November.
    3. Kati Schindler, 2010. "Who Does What in a Household after Genocide?: Evidence from Rwanda," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1072, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Norbert R. Schady, 2004. "Do Macroeconomic Crises Always Slow Human Capital Accumulation?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 18(2), pages 131-154.
    5. World Bank, 2011. "World Development Report 2011 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2011 : Conflits, sécurité et développement - Abrégé]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4389, December.
    6. Rohini Pande & Nan Astone, 2007. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-29, February.
    7. Osmani, Siddiq & Sen, Amartya, 2003. "The hidden penalties of gender inequality: fetal origins of ill-health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 105-121, January.
    8. V. Bhaskar & Bishnupriya Gupta, 2007. "India's missing girls: biology, customs, and economic development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 221-238, Summer.
    9. Tim Dyson, 2001. "The Preliminary Demography of the 2001 Census of India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 341-356, June.
    10. Monica Das Gupta, 2006. "Cultural versus Biological Factors in Explaining Asia's “Missing Women”: Response to Oster," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(2), pages 328-332, June.
    11. Ming-Jen Lin & Ming-Ching Luoh, 2008. "Can Hepatitis B Mothers Account for the Number of Missing Women? Evidence from Three Million Newborns in Taiwan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 2259-2273, December.
    12. Valente, Christine, 2011. "What did the Maoists ever do for us ? education and marriage of women exposed to civil conflict in Nepal," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5741, The World Bank.
    13. Klasen, Stephan, 1994. ""Missing women" reconsidered," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 1061-1071, July.
    14. Tilman Bruck & Kati Schindler, 2009. "The Impact of Violent Conflicts on Households: What Do We Know and What Should We Know about War Widows?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 289-309.
    15. Monica Das Gupta, 2005. "Explaining Asia's “Missing Women”: A New Look at the Data," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 31(3), pages 529-535, September.
    16. Stephan Klasen & Claudia Wink, 2002. "A Turning Point in Gender Bias in Mortality? An Update on the Number of Missing Women," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 285-312, June.
    17. Woojin Chung & Monica Das Gupta, 2011. "Factors influencing 'missing girls' in South Korea," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(24), pages 3365-3378.
    18. Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Sinha, Nistha & Buvinic, Mayra, 2010. "How do women weather economic shocks ? a review of the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5496, The World Bank.
    19. D.P. Chaudhri & Raghbendra Jha, 2011. "Child Poverty, Demographic Transition and Gender Bias in Education in India: Household Data Analysis (1993–94 and 2004–05)," ASARC Working Papers 2011-17, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia & Domingo Gallego, 2015. "Where are the missing girls? Gender discrimination in mid-19th century Spain," Working Papers 23, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge.
    2. Stephan Klasen, 2008. "Missing Women: Some Recent Controversies on Levels and Trends in Gender Bias in Mortality," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 168, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Mayra Buvinic & Monica Das Gupta & Ursula Casabonne & Philip Verwimp, 2013. "Violent Conflict and Gender Inequality: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 110-138, February.
    4. Stephan Klasen & Sebastian Vollmer, 2016. "A Flow Measure of Missing Women by Age and Disease," PGDA Working Papers 11314, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    5. Alexander Stimpfle & David Stadelmann, 2016. "Does Central Europe Import the Missing Women Phenomenon?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2016-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    6. Akee, Randall K. Q. & Feir, Donn. L., 2016. "Excess Mortality, Institutionalization and Homelessness Among Status Indians in Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 10416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Ebert, Cara & Klasen, Stephan & Vollmer, Sebastian, 2021. "Counting missing women: A reconciliation of the "flow measure" and the "stock measure"," Ruhr Economic Papers 924, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Scott South & Katherine Trent & Sunita Bose, 2014. "Skewed Sex Ratios and Criminal Victimization in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1019-1040, June.
    9. Donna Feir & Randall Akee, 2019. "First Peoples lost: Determining the state of status First Nations mortality in Canada using administrative data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(2), pages 490-525, May.
    10. Kati Kraehnert & Tilman Brück & Michele Di Maio & Roberto Nisticò, 2019. "The Effects of Conflict on Fertility: Evidence From the Genocide in Rwanda," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(3), pages 935-968, June.
    11. Giulia La Mattina, 2014. "Civil Conflict, Sex Ratio and Intimate Partner Violence in Rwanda," HiCN Working Papers 175, Households in Conflict Network.
    12. Roland Pongou, 2020. "Is Excess (Fe)Male Mortality Caused by the Prenatal Environment, Child Biology, or Parental Discrimination? New Evidence from Male-Female Twins," Working Papers 2008E Classification-I15,, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    13. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Alexandra Avdeenko & Andrew Tedesco, 2016. "Measuring Violent Conflict in Micro-level Surveys: Current Practices and Methodological Challenges," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 29-58.
    14. MATTHEW McCARTNEY & AISHA GILL, 2007. "From South Asia to Diaspora: Missing Women and Migration," Working Papers 152, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    15. Portner, Claus C, 2015. "Sex-selective abortions, fertility, and birth spacing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7189, The World Bank.
    16. Pongou, Roland, 2008. "Twin Estimates of the Effects of Prenatal Environment, Child Biology, and Parental Bias on Sex Differences in Early Age Mortality," MPRA Paper 103491, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 May 2010.
    17. Arup Maharatna, 2009. "Can ‘Beautiful’ Be ‘Backward’? India’s Tribes in a Long-Term Demographic Perspective," Working Papers id:2191, eSocialSciences.
    18. Scott South & Katherine Trent & Sunita Bose, 2012. "India’s ‘Missing Women’ and Men’s Sexual Risk Behavior," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 777-795, December.
    19. Giulia La Mattina, 2014. "Civil Conflict, Sex Ratio and Intimate Partner Violence in Rwanda," Working Papers 0114, University of South Florida, Department of Economics.
    20. Sriya Iyer & Shareen Joshi, 2013. "Missing Women and India’s Religious Demography," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 8(3), pages 301-331, December.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:18813. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.