In recent years universal health coverage has become an important issue in developing countries. Successful introduction of such a social security system requires knowledge of the relationship between socio-economic status and usage of health care services. This paper examines this relationship,...

This paper examines the hypothesis that contraceptive use of illiterate women having literate partners (proximate literates), may be higher than that of illiterate women whose partners too are illiterates (isolate illiterates) using Demographic Health Survey data for India (2005-2006). Results...

Literature on family planning considers natural (also called traditional) contraceptives to be ‘ineffective’ because its users are not motivated to control their fertility. While this is true for initial stages of fertility transition, studies have reported that it is women belonging to...

Evidence on success of SHGs in empowering females is mixed. In particular, researchers argue that such schemes often attract women who are already active in the public domain (referred to as ‘self-selection’), so that those who are most in need of assistance remain excluded. Simultaneously,...

Who controls the income earned by Self Help Group (SHG) members from group activities – they, or their husbands? The answer indicates the level of economic empowerment attained by SHG members. This paper examines whether identity of person controlling this income depends upon the political...

Strong son preference in developing countries often motivates parents to undertake sex selection at birth, infanticide, and subsequent neglect of daughters, leading to low child sex ratios in these countries. An interesting question is whether such attitudes also lead to gender discrimination in...

Illiterate women comprise a particularly vulnerable section of the community. They lack empowerment, are unable to voice their choice with respect to contraceptive use, and also lack access to health services. However, their lack of literacy may be compensated if their partners are literate....

The increasing graying of India’s population raises concerns about the welfare and health status of the aged. One important source of information of health status of the elderly is the National Sample Survey Rounds on Morbidity and Health Care Expenditure. Using unit level data for 1995-96 and...

Is gender disparity greater in North India? This paper seeks to answer this question by examining gender differences in probability of completing school education across regions in India. A Gender Disparity Index is calculated using National Sample Survey Organization unit level data from the...

The introduction of the National Rural Health Mission has increased the demand for micro-level data on population and health for use in monitoring, planning and programme implementation. This calls for the introduction of a Health Management Information System (HMIS). The launching of a national...