Household wealth and life expectancy in India: 1990-2016

Aashish Gupta , Harvard University

Research on life expectancy gradients in low- and middle-income contexts is constrained by data limitations. Using data from three Demographic and Health Surveys in India, I generate the first direct estimates of period life table quantities and their standard errors by household wealth in India. These estimates reveal large and persistent disparities in mortality. In 2013-16, life expectancy at birth for the wealthiest women was 9.2 years higher than the poorest women. Differences among men were even starker: 14.1 years higher among the wealthiest octile when compared to the poorest. Disparities have declined between the 1990s and the mid 2010s, and life expectancy at birth has improved across wealth classes. To a large extent, these patterns are driven by declines in child mortality levels and differentials. In contrast, disparities in adult mortality have not declined, and among men, even overall declines in adult mortality are not observed. We find that life expectancy disparities are higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. Regionally, life expectancies of those in the poorest quartiles are lowest in the Hindi-speaking states. In fact, the poorest women who live in South India have similar or higher life expectancies than the richest women who live in Uttar Pradesh. These findings highlight the persistence of disparities and deficits in overall well-being in India. They have several implications for the scientific literature on measurement of mortality, health system priorities, and understanding the evolution of health disparities in the ongoing epidemiological transition.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe