Assessing Multidimensional Child Poverty in India: A Decomposition Analysis

Abstract

Children are universally recognised as one of the most vulnerable groups in society, as they depend on adults for fulfilling their basic needs and rights. Importantly, they experience deprivations and poverty differently from adults. In this regard, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Target 1.2 is significant because, for the first time, children are being explicitly included in the global poverty goal and recognizing the multidimensional nature of poverty. According to the global multidimensional poverty index report, 2022, approximately half of the 1.2 billion multidimensional poor people are children under 18, amounting to 593 million children globally. Data on child poverty shows that one in three children is multidimensionally poor, whereas the ratio is one in seven for adults. These statistics highlight that child poverty is a matter of global concern, not only due to its alarming prevalence among children but also it poses a significant threat to their present and future well-being. Although poverty among children fell faster in India, the country still has the highest number of poor children in the world, that is, 97 million. Nevertheless, there is a lack of in-depth research on the extent and nature of multidimensional child poverty (MCP) in the Indian context. In this regard, this study aims to fill this gap and uses data from two rounds of the National Family and Health Survey: 4th (2015-16) and 5th (2019-21). The study objectives are to examine the changes in MCP between 2015-16 and 2019-21 across all States/UTs and various population subgroups; decompose the MCP by various population subgroups and geographic locations; investigate the determinants of MCP in India and across its regions; and examine the multidimensional household poverty and intra-household inequality in child deprivation in India. The study uses the Alkire-Foster counting approach for measuring and decomposing MCP across dimensions, indicators and social groups. Further, Shapley decomposition and Alkire, Haq & Alim’s methods were employed to decompose the reduction in MCP by the within-group and demographic effects. The study employed various statistical models such as logistic regression, tetrachoric correlation and first order stochastic dominance approach to examine the above objectives. The results show that in India, the incidence of child poverty reduced by over 40% between 2015-16 and 2019-21 (46.6% to 27.4%) and the MCP Index reduced by half (0.242 to 0.126). Notably, the decline in MCP has been most significant in urban areas, northern regions, OBCs and Hindus. Children from rural areas, SCs, STs, and Muslim households are the poor performers. When focusing the deprivation status of poor child, the study found significant improvements in indicators such as access to electricity, birth registration, clean drinking water, assisted delivery during childbirth, sanitation facilities, and cooking fuel between 2015-16 and 2019-21 across population subgroups and geographic locations. The results also highlight that among the 15 indicators considered, sanitation had the largest contribution to the MCPI, followed by the mother’s education, cooking fuel, housing condition, and hand hygiene. These contributions varied significantly across population subgroups and geographical locations. Various factors were found to significantly influence child poverty in India, including the child’s sex, mother’s education, education level of the household head, age and sex of household headship, child’s birth order, caste, religion, household structure, and size. The study also found intriguing results in intra-household inequality in child deprivation in their nutritional and school attendance status. Specifically, it was observed that intra-household inequality in nutrition and school attendance is more prevalent in the multidimensional poor household. Both SCs and OBCs show higher levels of intra-household inequality in the nutritional status of children. Whereas, in school attendance, it is the ST households where intra-household inequality is more prevalent. Moreover, the country's central and eastern regions were particularly vulnerable to multidimensional household poverty and intra-household inequality. The findings suggest this analysis assists in ensuring the commitment to “Leave No One Behind” by identifying and addressing the specific deprivations faced by children from diverse subgroups within the Indian population.