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Women in the developing country of India have started on the long road to emancipation, at both the family and societal levels. In this context, we study what may be perceived as a key sign of emancipation regarding marriage and motherhood: childlessness. Using micro-level regressions, we show that a woman’s probability of ending her reproductive life without children exhibits a U-shaped relationship with her educational attainment. This indicates that poverty and sterility are not the sole determinants of childlessness and that better economic opportunities and empowerment within couples also matter. This result is robust to the introduction of important control variables, such as the development level of the state where women live, the husband’s education, age at marriage, religion, and caste. India appears to be joining a list of countries whose adjustments to childlessness go far beyond simply responding to boom-and-bust poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers gendered accounts of girls' schooling and childhood from urban India. It challenges global 'girl effect' narratives by grappling with the interplay of poverty and caste patriarchy and how it shapes families' struggles and concerns and girls' (re)productive labour, (un)freedoms and classroom experiences. Moving beyond the notion of 'multiple childhoods' it develops a conceptual framework that accounts for the way the state, the market, economic inequalities and local patriarchies inscribe poor girls' schooling and work. Drawing upon ethnographic work with Class VIII students in a state school it also unpacks girls' negotiation of classed and casted patriarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been significant progress in educational attainment in India since its independence. Yet the achievements are low in comparison to countries in similar stages of development. The situation is worse among groups who have a history of exclusion. Children from these groups have lower enrollment and higher dropout rates than national averages. Yet some of them are able to overcome these limitations and show academic resilience. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey (2005), we study the role of the different child, household, and school-level factors associated with academic resilience among these children. Further, to understand the mechanism through which group membership affects resilience we also study the indirect effect of group membership mediated through those factors. We find that the protective factors vary across the different disadvantaged groups. The main effect of group membership is through structural factors like poverty and maternal education. Yet, the child level and household level factors play an important role in most cases. Schools fail to play the expected role of being the source of resilience among those who face the strongest burden of structural factors. For some, the schools are the main site where they experience most of the adversities of group memberships. The results highlight the need for educational policy, which addresses the importance of schools as drivers and determinants of academic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Girl child marriage remains widespread in India despite implementation of several policies and programmes to eliminate the practice. This study examines the effects of girls' educational attainment and household poverty on the prevalence of female child marriage at the district–level in India. Data are drawn from the 2015–16 National Family Health Survey. Multiple linear regression models were employed to assess the factors of girl child marriage. The results indicate that girls with no schooling and primary level of education are having higher probability of getting married at an early age. However, likelihood of girl child marriage starts declining with secondary level of education. Moreover, higher secondary and higher level of education significantly reduces the prevalence of girl child marriage. Similarly, moving from poorest households to richest households significantly decreases the probability of child marriage. The results suggest that increasing opportunities for girls' education and financial supports to the poor families could be effective strategies towards eliminating the practice of girl child marriage in India. Highlights • Girls' secondary and higher level of educational attainment and betterment in household economic condition significantly reduces the risk of girl child marriage. • Urbanization, religion, women autonomy, and region also have significant influence on the prevalence of girl child marriage. • Increasing opportunities for girls' education and providing financial incentives to the poor families could be an effective strategy to eliminate the practice of girl child marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With India enacting the Mental Health Care Act (MHCA; No. 10 of 2017a), Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) have been legalised and have become binding orders for psychiatrists treating patients. There is a paucity of research into acceptability of PADs in Indian mental health care, likely due to a lack of awareness. There are no educational measures about PADs provided for in this Act. Facilitators and facilitation methods have not been elaborated upon as well. Aim: The aim of this study is (a) to develop/evaluate the effectiveness of a structured Education-cum-Assessment Tool (EAT) in providing information regarding PADs and (b) to evaluate modes of facilitation required by patients to complete PADs. Methods: A tool was developed as per provisions regarding PADs in the Mental Health Care Bill of 2013. This tool was administered to patients (n = 100), purposively sampled from the adult psychiatry review out-patient department (OPD). Patients were evaluated on retention of information, completion of PADs, modes of facilitation and time taken to write one. Results: Mean years of education was 8.28 (±5.74) years and mean duration of illness was 8.30 (±7.04) years. In all, 65% had Below-Poverty Line (BPL) status. All participants completed valid PADs in an average of 15 minutes. About 93% required facilitation via assistance in writing and reminding. The mean EAT scores implied above 70% retention but did not relate to types of facilitation. Conclusions: EAT scores can be used as an approximate measure of the patient's ability to understand and retain information which is a part of decisional capacity. Types of facilitation can help in understanding patient's ability to communicate their choices. Service providers may find EAT a time-effective tool for uniformly educating service users regarding PADs and indirectly assessing competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Naxalite violence and impoverishment combine to limit learning outcomes in India. • Conflict reduces tutoring and increases school absences. • Conflict also affects presence of local teachers and praise of children. • However, some girls experience improved learning outcomes due to Maoist ideology. • Education policy should tackle supply- and demand-side constraints during conflict. This paper investigates the relationship between violent conflict, poverty dynamics and learning outcomes in India. Generalized ordered logistic regressions indicate that Naxal violence is associated with lower outcomes in basic literacy and numeracy, though with variations by gender and poverty trajectory. Mixed methods data, involving panel analysis alongside in-depth interviews in conflict-affected areas, point to supply- and demand-side constraints especially for children in impoverished households. Harassment of girls increased school absence, while interactions with Naxals when travelling to school prompted many boys to stay in hostels during holidays thus limiting absences. Conflict also modified teacher incentives. Understanding how conflict affects acquisition of basic skills is critical in contributing to policies better tailored for marginalised girls and boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small tiny hands can grip a pen well not a tool. But the diffusion of child labour is one of the critical snags threatening the world at great. It is a matter of abundant alarm to many emerging Countries like India. It's become a socio-economic problem which robs children of their infantile, impending and composure. In many cases child slog is primarily compelled by fiscal pressures of the parents. The foremost aspect which gives surge to child labour is extensive redundancy. India is the second largest populace country but it has prime figure of child labour. The pivotal gardens of child labor encompass scarcity, redundancy and surplus populace but poverty is the key root behind this production. Employed children are the stuffs of punishing manipulation in terms of slogging for long hours of negligible compensation and usually these labors toil in lethal workshops. So, the utmost needed part in this regard is the effective execution of rules and strict implementation of labour laws in India. Now the government of India has also reserved numerous other superiorities to remove child labour problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large-scale household survey, we investigate how disparities in learning change over the primary school cycle. Even controlling for other factors, household wealth and parental schooling drive sizeable gaps in learning, increasing in magnitude over the school grades. Gender gaps also widen, although only among the poorest. In contrast to other countries, overage status is positively associated with learning early on, but its importance dissipates by later grades. While the importance of factors varies across states, household wealth predominates. The analysis highlights the importance of tackling disadvantage associated with poverty early, to avoid its effects on learning becoming entrenched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Poverty and child labour have a positive relationship in India. • Agriculture employs more than half of all child labourers in India. • The average age at which children begin working is 16 years, with and average of 6 to 8 years of education. • Children from economically disadvantaged families and the Muslim community are more likely to engage in child labour. Child labour continues to be a major concern in India despite the implementation of various policies and programmes aimed at its eradication. This study investigates factors that influence child labour in India with a focus on regional differences. The data is drawn from the 2019–20 Periodic Labour Force Survey. Binary logistic regression is used to identify factors that influence child labour. The findings show that children with pre-primary and primary education are less likely to be in the workforce, whereas children with secondary and higher secondary education are more likely to be in the workforce. This reflects the higher rates of secondary school dropouts attempting to enter the labour force. Likewise, poor families are more likely to send their children to work. Similarly, children from economically and socially disadvantaged communities, and Muslim households are more likely to be sent to work. The findings suggest that increasing children's educational attainment and providing financial assistance to poor families could effectively eradicate child labour in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many children from rural communities in India seeking an education are first-generation learners. These children at times find it difficult to cope with the school environment and learning the state language, which is unfamiliar to them. The parents of these children have no academic background or formal education at any level, which leaves them at a disadvantage as a significant part of their educational process occurs at home. This research is an attempt to study and understand the problems that are being faced by first-generation learners and to assist them in achieving their educational goals. The study uses a qualitative and flexible case-study approach, reflecting the real-life complexities of first generation learners. A flexible design with semi-structured interview method has been employed to allow for more freedom during data collection. This provides an opportunity to present the account of the journey and to refine and modify the original plan to follow up issues that emerged during the process of data collection. It is hoped that the study will provide some insight into the educational needs of first-generation learners and influence future school improvement programmes of both governmental and non-governmental rural development organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the household asset dynamics in India as well as Indian rural States. The paper contributes to the empirical analysis of poverty trap by investigating the presence of one potential poverty trap to simultaneous poverty trap. The paper uses the India Human Development Survey for the year 1993 and 2005. We use the local polynomial regression with Epanechnikov kernel weights to test the existence of multiple or single equilibrium in asset poverty dynamics. Moreover, we use the partial linear mixed model to test the impact of illiteracy trap and under-nutrition trap on asset dynamics process. Across all the States we find only single dynamic asset equilibrium for rural households. However the nature of the asset dynamics varies from one state to another. We find that, in most of the States, asset accumulation does not take place and welfare dynamics is very poor in rural areas. Further, we find under-nutrition trap uniformly affect the asset accumulation in most of the States. However an illiteracy trap affects the asset level heterogeneously over the income and regional distribution. We find the most deprived States (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh) have the multiple poverty trap compared to richer States. Our result implies that asset dynamics of the household varies in the long term according to the types of traps. Government and policy makers should take pointed policy and programme based on whether the poor are trapped and in what ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing rates of school enrolment have changed childhoods in the global South, so that it is now the norm for children to attend at least some years of primary school. This paper explores the extent to which valuing of children as educational projects and outcomes may be displacing previous valuations of children as contributors to the domestic economy. The paper draws on qualitative interview data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children growing up in four developing countries, using a case study approach to explore the experiences of four children in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The paper suggests that children are balancing expectations for the future with responsibilities to their families in the present, and concludes that the over-valuing of formal qualifications and the under-valuing of forms of work such as agriculture risk being internalised by children, leaving those who do not succeed feeling they are 'a waste'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 is focused on reducing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health care. India has made extensive efforts to achieve MDG 5 and in some regions much progress has been achieved. Progress has been uneven and inequitable however, and many women still lack access to maternal and reproductive health care. Objective: In this review, a framework developed by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) is used to categorize and explain determinants of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India. Design: A review of peer-reviewed, published literature was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed and Popline. The search was performed using a carefully developed list of search terms designed to capture published papers from India on: 1) maternal and reproductive health, and 2) equity, including disadvantaged populations. A matrix was developed to sort the relevant information, which was extracted and categorized based on the CSDH framework. In this way, the main sources of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India and their inter-relationships were determined. Results: Five main structural determinants emerged from the analysis as important in understanding equity in India: economic status, gender, education, social status (registered caste or tribe), and age (adolescents). These five determinants were found to be closely interrelated, a feature which was reflected in the literature. Conclusion: In India, economic status, gender, and social status are all closely interrelated when influencing use of and access to maternal and reproductive health care. Appropriate attention should be given to how these social determinants interplay in generating and sustaining inequity when designing policies and programs to reach equitable progress toward improved maternal and reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How and to what extent do different citizens experience democratic governance on a day-to-day basis? What agencies do they utilize in order to have their voices heard and grievances addressed? How do they gain access to government agencies responsible for delivering social welfare services, such as education, security, health care, and poverty relief? Investigations conducted in two states of India inquired about the manner in which different social groups living in rural areas gain access to the welfare services of the Indian state. These results show that an intermediary is required for gaining access. Different types of intermediaries are consulted by separate segments of society. For a large majority of poorer individuals, a newly arisen type of mediator, the naya neta (literally, new leader), is the intermediary of choice. Neither usually low status nor high status, but younger and better educated than other types of village leaders, naya netas play important roles in shaping welfare consequences in these villages of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, most importantly, by affecting equity of access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We utilize household-level consumption expenditure data from India to examine the evolution of inequality during 1983–2004. Various measures of inequality show that inequality levels were relatively stable during 1983–93, but increased during 1993–2004. The increases in inequality have not precluded reductions in poverty, however. They are also more of an urban phenomenon and can be accounted for by increases in returns to education in the urban sector to a considerable extent, especially among households that rely on income from education-intensive services and/or education-intensive occupations. Some of the increases in the returns to education can be linked to economic liberalization undertaken in the 1990s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines whether the recent growth in 'low-fee private' (LFP) schools is able to promote Education for All by being accessible to the poor. Based primarily on a 13-village survey of 250 households and visits to 26 private and government schools in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, this paper explores who 'chooses' private schooling, in the light of the well-documented failure of the government school system. In particular, the paper explores the issue of whether private provision is affordable and accessible to poor rural parents. It finds that LFP school costs are unaffordable for over half of the sampled children, including the majority of low caste and Muslim families. It also finds that while LFPs are greatly preferred under current conditions, what parents actually want is a well-functioning government school system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fourteen percent of households in 36 villages of three districts in Andhra Pradesh, India, escaped from poverty over the past 25 years, but another 12% of these 5536 households fell into poverty during the same time. Escaping poverty and falling into poverty are responsive, respectively, to different sets of factors. Two different sets of poverty policies will be required in future: one set to assist escape, and another set to prevent descent. While ill health and high healthcare costs, social and customary expenses, high-interest private debt, and drought are associated most often with falling into poverty, diversification of income sources and land improvement are most closely related with escape. Some other factors, including industrial growth and education, have had only very slight and indirect effects on poverty in these villages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Higher educational attainment and urban residence significantly reduce the risk of male child marriage. • In all of the states and UTs, early marriage among men is concentrated in poor only. • Education, caste, and residence contribute significantly to the inequality in early marriage among men. • Achieving further improvements in reducing early marriage among boys requires confrontation of the barriers embedded in laws, policies, and in social norms and values. The practice of child marriage still prevails in many communities of India, especially those are governed by customary and traditional practices. Although girls are excessively affected and form the vast majority of the victims of child marriage, boys are also subjected to early marriage. Much has been discussed about the child marriage of girls, but surprisingly early marriage of boys has received very little attention in India. This study attempted to explore the various reasons associated with early marriage among men and also investigate the region-wise inequality in India with the help of the concentration curve. Estimates of decomposition analysis for quantifying the contribution of various explanatory variables for early marriage among men were also presented. This study utilized data from National Family Health Survey-4 with a sample size of 71,666 ever-married men. Men who had higher education levels were 46% less likely to marry before the age 21 than men who had no education [OR: 0.54, P < 0.01]. Rajasthan (51%) witnessed the highest percentage of early marriage among men, followed by Madhya Pradesh (50.4%) and Uttar Pradesh (49.1%). It was found that education, caste, residence, and wealth status explain nearly three-fourths of the observed inequality in the occurrence of early marriage among men. It is suggested that for reducing the incidences of early marriages among men requires confrontation of the barriers embedded in laws, policies, and in social norms and values. It would be appropriate for policy-makers to direct their efforts to specific regions and communities where the prevalence of early marriage among men is still higher and an accepted norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]