The Incidence and Age Distribution of Death: Mortality by Caste, Gender, and Sector of Origin in India in the Mid-2010s

IF 1.8 3区社会学 Q3 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities Pub Date : 2023-05-24 DOI:10.1080/19452829.2023.2214725

S. Subramanian

{"title":"The Incidence and Age Distribution of Death: Mortality by Caste, Gender, and Sector of Origin in India in the Mid-2010s","authors":"S. Subramanian","doi":"10.1080/19452829.2023.2214725","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper considers the distribution of mortality across social groups classified by caste, gender and sector of origin in India in the mid-2010s: as such, the essay is intended to be both a methodological/measurement-oriented study and a substantive empirical assessment of an important dimension of human functioning in India. The analysis is carried out employing micro-data on the age-distributions of population and death-rates available in the National Family Health Survey of 2015–16 (NFHS-4). Mortality in the paper is measured in terms of the crude death rate, an indicator of “inefficiency” in the age-distribution of deaths, and an “age-adjusted” death rate which takes account of both the mean and the dispersion of a distribution. The last-mentioned indicator is taken to be the preferred measure of mortality. The analysis in the paper suggests that mortality outcomes across castes replicate the caste hierarchy and that there is a sharp rural-urban divide in the distribution of death. Mortality sex-ratios are found to be relatively more favourable for the lower than the higher castes. The results presented in the paper are not unexpected, but they provide quantitative confirmation of one's worst suspicions regarding the skewed distribution of mortality across social groups in India.","PeriodicalId":46538,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Development and Capabilities","volume":"24 1","pages":"375 - 400"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Human Development and Capabilities","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2023.2214725","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"DEVELOPMENT STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper considers the distribution of mortality across social groups classified by caste, gender and sector of origin in India in the mid-2010s: as such, the essay is intended to be both a methodological/measurement-oriented study and a substantive empirical assessment of an important dimension of human functioning in India. The analysis is carried out employing micro-data on the age-distributions of population and death-rates available in the National Family Health Survey of 2015–16 (NFHS-4). Mortality in the paper is measured in terms of the crude death rate, an indicator of “inefficiency” in the age-distribution of deaths, and an “age-adjusted” death rate which takes account of both the mean and the dispersion of a distribution. The last-mentioned indicator is taken to be the preferred measure of mortality. The analysis in the paper suggests that mortality outcomes across castes replicate the caste hierarchy and that there is a sharp rural-urban divide in the distribution of death. Mortality sex-ratios are found to be relatively more favourable for the lower than the higher castes. The results presented in the paper are not unexpected, but they provide quantitative confirmation of one's worst suspicions regarding the skewed distribution of mortality across social groups in India.

查看原文本刊更多论文

死亡发生率和年龄分布：20世纪10年代中期印度按种姓、性别和原籍部门划分的死亡率

摘要本文考虑了2010年代中期印度按种姓、性别和出身部门划分的社会群体的死亡率分布：因此，本文旨在对印度人类功能的一个重要方面进行方法论/计量导向的研究和实质性实证评估。该分析采用了2015-16年全国家庭健康调查（NFHS-4）中提供的人口年龄分布和死亡率的微观数据。本文中的死亡率是根据粗死亡率和“年龄调整”死亡率来衡量的，粗死亡率是死亡年龄分布中“效率低下”的指标，“年龄调整后”死亡率同时考虑了分布的平均值和离散度。最后提到的指标被认为是衡量死亡率的首选指标。论文中的分析表明，不同种姓的死亡率结果复制了种姓等级制度，死亡分布存在明显的城乡差距。研究发现，与较高种姓相比，较低种姓的死亡率和性别比相对更有利。论文中给出的结果并不意外，但它们从数量上证实了人们对印度社会群体死亡率分布不均的最严重怀疑。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities DEVELOPMENT STUDIES-

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

6.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal for People-Centered Development is the peer-reviewed journal of the Human Development and Capabilities Association. It was launched in January 2000 to promote new perspectives on challenges of human development, capability expansion, poverty eradication, social justice and human rights. The Journal aims to stimulate innovative development thinking that is based on the premise that development is fundamentally about improving the well-being and agency of people, by expanding the choices and opportunities they have. Accordingly, the Journal recognizes that development is about more than just economic growth and development policy is more than just economic policy: it cuts across economic, social, political and environmental issues. The Journal publishes original work in philosophy, economics, and other social sciences that expand concepts, measurement tools and policy alternatives for human development. It provides a forum for an open exchange of ideas among a broad spectrum of academics, policy makers and development practitioners who are interested in confronting the challenges of human development at global, national and local levels.