How Do Female Literacy, Employment, and Demographic Factors Increase Gender Gap Among Children? A Panel Study of Last Four Decades in India and Districts of Major States

Ajit Yadav , International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Faujdar Ram, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The paper examines the socio-economic and demographic determinants of changes in child sex ratio (CSR) in order to understand the missing girl child phenomena due to sex preferences. Using data from the last four decennial censuses for the fifteen major states of India and its districts that covered more than 90 percent population of India, this paper reveals a major decline in child sex ratio from 1981 to 2011 in all the major states and its districts. Panel regression models show that higher socio-economic characteristics viz. urbanization and female literacy has not been translated effectively in terms of improving the child sex ratio. Proportion of scheduled tribe population, total fertility rate and child mortality are the positive interpreters of the under-five child sex ratio in the last four decades. This is accompanied with significant regional variation with the lowest figures from the Northern region.

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 Presented in Session 8. Economy, Labor Force, Education, & Inequality