Sex-differentials in under-five mortality in India: A regional analysis

In most countries of the world, national levels of mortality in childhood have fallen substantially in recent decades. A large difference in the mortality of female children indicates gender discrimination in access to the right to live.
The study has the following specific objectives:
i) To estimate the under-five mortality by sex in India.
ii) To examine the pattern & factors that affect sex differential in under-five mortality across the region.
iii) To bring out the policy implications to reduce under-five mortality across the region.
The main purpose of this paper has been to analyze the effects of the biological and socio-economic on the survival of male and female U-5 children and its differences across the region in India. In all the six regions, the relative risk (F/M) of mortality is higher in rural areas than in urban areas and the relative risk decreases as the education level of mother increases. Significant factors causative to under-5 mortality in India are the place of residence, parent’s education and work status, wealth, social group, mother’s smoking/alcoholic habit and her health. Among all the above factor mother’s education, residence and religion are the most significant factors for sex differential in U-5 mortality.