Missing Women and India’s Religious Demography

The authors use recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They find that fertility and mortality vary not only between religious groups, but also across c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Borooah, Vani, Do, Quy-Toan, Iyer, Sriya, Joshi, Shareen
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ABORTION AGE AT MARRIAGE AVERAGE AGE BIRTH CONTROL CHILD MORTALITY CHILD-BEARING CHILDBEARING CHILDBEARING AGES CONTRACEPTION CONTRACEPTIVE USE COURT DEATHS DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE DEMOGRAPHY DIFFERENTIALS IN FERTILITY DIVORCE DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC STATUS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EQUAL TREATMENT FAMILIES FAMILY HEALTH FAMILY PLANNING FAMILY WELFARE FATHER FATHERS FEMALE FEMALE EDUCATION FEMALE LABOR FORCE FEMALE MORTALITY FEMALES FERTILITY FERTILITY BEHAVIOR FERTILITY DECLINE FERTILITY PATTERNS FERTILITY RATE FERTILITY RATES FERTILITY TRANSITION FEWER CHILDREN FIRST MARRIAGE GENDER GENDER BIAS GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER NORMS HOME HOUSEHOLD ASSETS HOUSES HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUSBAND HUSBANDS IMMIGRANT IMMIGRANTS IMMUNIZATION IMPORTANT POLICY INEQUALITY INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INHERITANCE INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS ISLAMIC LAW KINSHIP KINSHIP STRUCTURE LABOR MARKETS LAND OWNERSHIP LEVELS OF EDUCATION LEVELS OF INFANT LITERACY LOWER FERTILITY MALE MORTALITY MALE SEX MARRIAGES MASS MEDIA MEASLES MEAT MINISTRY OF HEALTH MINORITY MISCARRIAGES MORTALITY MORTALITY DIFFERENCES MORTALITY RISK MORTALITY RISKS MOTHER MOTHERS MUSLIM GIRLS MUSLIM WOMEN NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY NATIONAL LEVEL NUMBER OF CHILDREN NUMBER OF CHILDREN PER WOMAN NUMBER OF GIRLS NUMBER OF WOMEN NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL INTAKES OLD AGES OLD-AGE PARENTS POLICY IMPLICATIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLIO POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT POPULATION GROWTH POPULATION GROWTH RATE POPULATION GROWTH RATES POPULATION STUDIES POPULATION STUDY PREFERENCE FOR SONS PRIMARY SCHOOL PROGRESS PROPERTY RIGHTS RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES RELIGIOUS GROUP RELIGIOUS GROUPS RESIDENCE RESPECT RISK OF DEATH RURAL AREAS RURAL POPULATION SCHOOL ENROLMENT SECONDARY SCHOOL SELECTIVE ABORTION SEX SEX RATIO SEX RATIOS SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS SHARIA SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SON PREFERENCE STATUS OF WOMEN STD SURVIVAL ADVANTAGE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TELEVISION UNFPA URBAN AREAS USE OF CONTRACEPTION VIOLENCE WIFE WILL WIVES WOMAN
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20091027094625 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4288

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Summary:	The authors use recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They find that fertility and mortality vary not only between religious groups, but also across caste groups. These groups also differ with respect to socio-economic status. The central finding of this paper is that despite their socio-economic disadvantages, Muslims have higher fertility than their Hindu counterparts and also exhibit lower levels of infant mortality (particularly female infant mortality). This effect is robust to the inclusion of controls for non-religious factors such as socio-economic status and area of residence. This result has important policy implications because it suggests that India's problem of "missing women" may be concentrated in particular groups. The authors conclude that religion and caste play a key role in determining the demographic characteristics of India.

Missing Women and India’s Religious Demography

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