This article attempts to develop a status index for female and male genders and quantify the same at the subnational level for India. It examines the gaps and shortcomings in women’s socio-economic attainments with respect to men. Four main components were considered for quantifying this gender status index, namely (a) education, (b) health and demographics, (c) economic participation and (d) political participation and decision-making, with four to six parameters for each of these dimensions. This exercise shows that, overall, there are huge gender differentials in status across all states and union territories in India. The most lacking sectors for women are their poor economic and political participation, which therefore need consistent and targeted action. This study also shows that tools such as status index can be suitably used to gauge and monitor empowerment of women over different temporal and spatial scales.
AcharyaM. & BennettL. (1981). Rural women of Nepal: An aggregate analysis and summary of 8 village studies: The status of women in Nepal (Volume 2, Part 9, Field Studies). Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University, Centre for Economic Development and Administration.
2.
All India Survey on Higher Education. (2011–2012). Cited in Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Government of India, New Delhi.
3.
BudlenderD. (2008). The statistical evidence on care and non-care work across six countries (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD): Gender Programme Paper No. 4). Geneva: UNRISD.
4.
CaiazzaA. & PutnamD. Robert. (2002). Women’s status and social capital across the states (Briefing Paper). Washington, DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
5.
CampbellA.BalaN.Duvall-AntonacopoulosK.LeslieM. … PaetschJ. (2005). Polygamy in Canada: Legal and social implications for women and children. A collection of policy research reports. Government of Canada. ISBN 0-662-42068-3
6.
Care (2015). Vows of poverty: 26 countries where child marriage eclipses girls’ education. Atlanta, GA: Care.
7.
Census of India (2011). 2011 Census data. Retrieved from http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-Common/CensusData2011.html
8.
COIN, Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards (2016). COIN Composite Indicators Research Group. Retrieved 25April2015, from https://composite-indicators.jrc.ec.europa.eu/?q=content/step-6-weightingsite
9.
DaliS.M.ThapaM. & ShresthaS. (1999). Education for Nepalese women to provide improved care for their childbearing daughters-in-law. World Health Forum, 13(4), 353–354.
10.
DeviD.R. (1993). Status of women in India: A comparison by state. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 8(4), 59–77.
11.
DixonR.B. (1975). Women’s rights and fertility (Report on Population/Family Planning, No. 17). New York, NY: Population Council.
12.
EpsteinT.S. (1982). A social anthropological approach to women’s roles and status in developing countries: The domestic cycle. In AnkerR.BuvinicM. & YoussefN.H. (Eds), Women’s roles and population trends in the third world (pp. 151–170). London: Croom Helm.
13.
ErgasC. & YorkR. (2012). Women’s status and carbon dioxide emissions: A quantitative cross-national analysis. Social Science Research, 41(4), 965–976. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.03.008.
14.
Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO). (2011). The state of food and agriculture, 2010–2011. Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development. Rome: FAO.
15.
GaryR.L. (1982). Structural variety in marriage. Family structure and interaction: A comparative analysis (2nd, revised ed.). University of Minnesota Press.
16.
GuptaD. (2009). Disparities in development, status of women and social opportunities: Indian experience. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 1(3), 687–719.
17.
HamdanS. (2005). Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements. International Education Journal, 6(1), 42–64.
18.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2013). Global Employment Trends 2013. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
19.
Inter Parliamentary Union (2017, March16). With India at 148th in number of women MPs, UN official moots quotas. The Hindu. Retrieved 20July2017, from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-at-148th-in-number-of-women-mps/article17471164.ece
20.
International Center for Research on Women (2016). Child marriage in Southern Asia: Policy options for actions. Washington, DC: ICRW, UNFPA.
21.
KoenigM.A. & FooH.C.G. (1992). Patriarchy, women’s status, and reproductive behavior in rural north India. Demography India, 21(2), 145–166.
22.
KrishanRajM. (Ed.) (1986). Women’s studies in India: Some perspectives. Bombay, India: R-Popular Prakashan.
23.
KumarP.N. (2011). Status of women and economic development. A decadal analysis based on Indian states. Socio-economic voices, September–October. Retrieved 10August2017 from indiastat.com.
24.
KumarA.BordoneV. & MuttarakR. (2016). Like mother(-in-law) like daughter? Influence of the older generation’s fertility behaviors on women’s desired family size in Bihar, India. European Journal of Population, 32(5), 629–660. DOI: 10.1007/s10680-016-9379-z
25.
MagginoF. & RuviglioniE. (2010). Obtaining weights: From objective to subjective approaches in view of more participative methods in the construction of composite indicators. Retrieved 10November2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/1001617/4398464/POSTER-1A-OBTAINING-WEIGHTS-MAGGINO-RUVIGLIONI.pdf
26.
Mani BabuM. (2013). Multiple wives, co-wives and female status: Example on contemporary change from Manipur (India). Retrieved 20March2014, from file:///C:/Users/Teacher.IHE063/Downloads/8372-29375-1-PB%20(1).pdf
27.
MasonK. (1986). The status of women: Conceptual and methodological issues in demographic studies. Sociological Forum, 1(2), 284–300.
28.
Mckinsey Global Institute (2015). The power of Parity: Advancing women’s equality in India. London: Mckinsey Global Institute.
29.
Ministry of Law and Justice (2016). Is there diversity in Indian Judiciary. Department of Justice, Government of India. Retrieved 31December2016, from http://164.100.47.190/loksabhaquestions/annex/10/AU4551.pdf
30.
MohiddinY. (1995). Country rankings of women’s status: An alternative index. The Pakistan Development Review, 34(4), 1025–1039.
31.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme, Implementation (MOSPI). (2014). Men and women in India 2016. New Delhi: MOSPI, Government of India.
32.
Ministry of Women & Child Development (2009). Gendering human development indices: Recasting the gender development index and gender empowerment measure for India, 2009. New Delhi.
33.
MukerjeeB.N. (1975). Multi-dimensional conceptualization of status of women. Social Change, 5(12), 27–44.
34.
MukherjeeB.N. (1993). Understanding rural women through participation (pp. 4–6). New Delhi: Yojana.
35.
MullanyB.C.HindeM.J. & BeckerS. (2005). Can women’s autonomy impede male involvement in pregnancy health in Kathmandu, Nepal?Social Science and Medicine, 61(9), 1993–2006. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.04.006
36.
MundraS. & SinghM. (2012). Redefining the economic status of women in developing nations: Gender perspective. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(12), 1–8.
37.
National Family Health Survey-IV (NFHS IV). (2015–2016). NFHS-4 fact sheets for key indicators based on final data.. Retrieved from http://rchiips.org/NFHS/factsheet_NFHS-4.shtml
38.
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child, Development (NIPCCD). (2007). Statistics on women in India 2007. New Delhi: NIPCCD.
39.
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child, Development (NIPCCD). (2010). Statistics on women in India 2010. New Delhi: NIPCCD.
40.
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child, Development (NIPCCD). (2014). Statistics on women in India 2014. New Delhi: NIPCCD.
41.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, National Sample Survey Organization (2006). Employment and unemployment situation in India 2004–05. Part I: NSS 61st Round: July 2004–June 2005. New Delhi.
42.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2012). Gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship: Final report to the MCM 2012. Paris: OECD.
43.
Otoo-OyorteyN. & PobiS. (2003). Early marriage and poverty exploring links for policy and programme development. London: The Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls.
44.
PatkarA. (1995). Socio-economic status and female literacy in India. International Journal of Educational Development, 15(4), 404–409.
45.
Planning Commission (2000). Women in India: A statistical profile: Development indicators: A comparative picture of the status of women and men in India. Data Sheet, New Delhi.
46.
RustagiP. (2004). Significance of gender-related development indicators: An analysis of India states. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 11(3), 291–343.
47.
RustagiP. (2007). Women and poverty: Rural-urban dimensions. Social Change, 37(4), 1–36.
48.
SulajaS. (2004). Social development and women in status: An analysis of South Indian states. The Journal of Family Welfare, 50(2), 55–57.
49.
SimkhadaB.PorterM. A. & van TeijlingenE. R. (2010). The role of mothers-in-law in antenatal care decision-making in Nepal: A qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 10(34), 1–10.
50.
SuF. (2007). Same mothers-in-law different daughters-in-law-research on interaction between Taiwanese mother-in-law and foreign daughter-in-law (Unpublished Master Thesis). Taiwan: Department of Social Science Education, National Tai-Nan University.
51.
The World Bank (2016). The little data book on gender. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
52.
UN Women (1946). Commission on the status of women. Retrieved 10April2015, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw
53.
UNICEF (2010). Water, sanitation and hygiene. Retrieved 20June2015, from http://www.unicef.org/media/media_45481.html
54.
UNICEF (2012). The state of the world’s children: Children in an urban world. New York, NY: United Nations Plaza.
55.
United Nations (1975). World conference on women. Retrieved 18July2015, from http://www.5wwc.org/conference_background/1975_WCW.html
56.
United Nations Development Programme (2011). Human development report 2011: Sustainability and equity: A better future for all. New York, NY: United Nations Development Programme.
57.
United Nations Development Programme (2015). Work for human development. New York, NY: United Nations Development Programme.
