Gender Disparity in South Asia: Comparisons Between and Within Countries

Using data assembled from the Demographic Health Surveys of over 50 countries and from the National Family Health surveys of individual states in India, the authors create a new data set of comparable indicators of gender disparity.

Abstract

No AccessPolicy Research Working Papers21 Jun 2013Gender Disparity in South Asia: Comparisons Between and Within CountriesAuthors/Editors: Deon Filmer, Elizabeth KingDeon Filmer, Elizabeth Kinghttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-1867SectionsAboutPDF (0.4 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:January 1998 While gender disparities in health and education outcomes are higher on average in South Asian than in other countries, the large within country differences in gender disparity, between Indian states or Pakistani provinces, demand more local explanations. Using data assembled from the Demographic Health Surveys of over 50 countries and from the National Family Health Surveys of individual states in India, Filmer, King, and Pritchett create a new data set of comparable indicators of gender disparity. They establish three findings: As is by now well-known, the level of gender disparities in health and education outcomes for girls in South Asia is the highest in the world. Even within South Asia, and within India or Pakistan, there are huge variations in gender disparity. Differences in gender disparity among Indian states or among provinces of Pakistan are typically greater than those among the world's nations. The ratio of female to male child mortality in one Indian state (Haryana) is worse than in any country in the world, although in another state (Tamil Nadu) it is lower than in all but three countries. Across and within the set of developing nations, gender disparity is not only a phenomenon of poverty. There is almost no correlation between per capita income and the gender disparities in health and education outcomes. So although absolute levels of health and education outcomes for girls are strongly related to economic conditions, the disparities between outcomes for girls and boys are not. Understanding what causes such great gender disparity within South Asia is the next pressing question for researchers. This paper-a product of Poverty and Human Resources, Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the determinants of gender differentials. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project Explaining Gender Disparity in South Asia (RPO 681-29). The authors may be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected] Previous bookNext book FiguresReferencesRecommendedDetailsCited ByThe Skills Space in Informal Work: Insights from Bangalore SlumsThe Journal of Development Studies, Vol.57, No.1026 March 2021The Political Sociology of South Asian Women's Health7 August 2020Socioeconomic Dynamics of Gender Disparity in Childhood Immunization in India, 1992–2006PLoS ONE, Vol.9, No.815 August 2014Muslim Female Work Participation in West Bengal, IndiaSSRN Electronic JournalLong-Term Financial Incentives and Investment in Daughters: Evidence from Conditional Cash Transfers in North IndiaSSRN Electronic JournalThe Long Walk to School: International Education Goals in Historical PerspectiveSSRN Electronic JournalEducation in Rural India: Perspective from a North Indian VillageSSRN Electronic JournalA Reversal of Educational Fortune? Educational Gender Gaps in BangladeshSSRN Electronic JournalThe Long Walk to School: International Education Goals in Historical PerspectiveSSRN Electronic JournalThe impact of public spending on health: does money matter?Social Science & Medicine, Vol.49, No.10 View Published: November 1999 Copyright & Permissions Related RegionsSouth AsiaRelated CountriesIndiaRelated TopicsEducationGenderHealth Nutrition and Population KeywordsCHILD MORTALITYDISCRIMINATIONDISPARITIES IN HEALTHFAMILY HEALTHFEMALE CHILDRENGENDER DIFFERENTIALSGENDER DISPARITIESGENDER DISPARITYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSILLNESSINFANTLABOR FORCENATIONAL GOVERNMENTNATIONAL LEVELPOPULATIONPOPULATIONSPOVERTYREPRODUCTIVE AGEWOMANWOMEN PDF DownloadLoading ...