Year: 2021 | Month: March | Volume 10 | Issue 1
Reproductive and Child Healthcare based Subnational Gender Development Index: A New Approach
Ananya Mishra
Anurag Banerjee
Arvind Narayan Mishra
DOI:10.46852/2249-6637.01.2021.1
Abstract:
Traditional metrics of gender development have failed to capture social dynamics that hinder gender equality, the inadequacies in reproductive health. As a policy instrument, traditional indices are inadequate for state governments to tackle regional issues in gender justice. This paper develops an index which can be used by states to determine particular areas of intervention and to track their progress. Methodology: The study develops an index based on six pillars. Under each pillar, the states are scored on a set of variables based on the quartiles of their scores. This scoring is scaled and the geometric mean of the score on each pillar is used as final index. The study then clusters the states based on their index scores and uses dimensionality reduction using Principal Component Analysis to arrive at dimensions for intervention. Result: Index scores indicates that the states perform well on some while fail on other dimensions challenging traditional notions and stereotypes of states being labelled as “sexist” or “feminist”. The study highlights: “Position of Women in Society”, “Access to Reproductive and Child Health” and “Economic Empowerment” as key dimensions of intervention for states and based on their scores, recommends policy action for each dimension.
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