Poverty Influences the Child Survival: Evidence from National Family Health Surveys

Prakash Mishra, Institute for Research in Medical Statistics (ICMR), India
Shrikant Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

An attempt has been made in this paper to examine the relationship between poverty and child survival in India. It also examines the gender differences in inequality in distribution and pattern of child deaths and by the place of residence. The wealth index is utilized in explaining differential in childhood mortality using Cox proportional hazard model. Results indicate that the differential in childhood mortality increases with the increase in poverty of household and thus there should be some specific policies aiming at reduction in poverty and inequality for improving child survival in India.