Representational Inequities in Under-five Mortality in South Asian Countries: An Illustration of Relative Disadvantage Index

Sourav Dey, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
UDAYA S MISHRA, International Institute for Population Sciences

With the progress in the reduction of under-five mortality(U5) in keeping with the SDG targets, its characteristic inequities remain an overlooked dimension; while socioeconomic characteristic differences in U5 mortality are widely discussed, the inequity derivative of such differences needs measurement to qualify ideal progress made as regard reduction in U5 mortality among the South Asian countries due to its diverse socio-political, cultural, societal settings. Examination of such inequality can be based on a principle and a purpose. This exercise offers an understanding of representational inequities in U5 mortality by using the latest DHS dataset of selected South Asian countries with a measure of the Relative disadvantage index. It has also tried to demonstrate the contrast between the prevailing and desirable distribution of this outcome across characteristic categories. This exposition informs on the redistribution of this adversity across characteristic groups through inter-country comparison. This exercise exposes differential patterns across characteristics, especially in maternal education, and wealth quintile displays the most unfair distribution of the extent of adversity in keeping with population share across countries. Such a measurement can be used to assess inequity-sensitive performance in the attainment of U5 mortality that is illustrated here among a set of South Asian countries.

Keywords: Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Population Policies, Population and Development

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