Gender Differentials in Health Care among the Older Population: The Case of India

Mitali Sen, U.S. Census Bureau
Wan He, U.S. Census Bureau

Gender gaps in health status are persistent throughout the world. Unequal access to healthcare is seen as an important factor in explaining this disparity in health outcomes. While the literature on gender disparity in child and maternal health and access has been growing in India, research on the older population is still extremely limited due to the lack of adequate data. The recently released India Human Development Survey: 2005 provides us with a unique opportunity to research this issue. In this paper we examine the extent of gender disparity in access to healthcare in India among people aged 60 and over. Both logistic and ordinary least squares regression models will be used to examine if gender plays a significant role in access to healthcare, controlling for a host of known social determinants such as standard of living, education, caste, urban location and region.