{"id":13161,"date":"2021-05-04T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?p=13161"},"modified":"2022-01-13T15:14:38","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T09:44:38","slug":"what-does-nfhs-5-data-tell-us-about-women-empowerment-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/what-does-nfhs-5-data-tell-us-about-women-empowerment-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"What does NFHS-5 data tell us about women empowerment in India?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women’s empowerment is a critical driver for economic growth and social prosperity. Broadly, the term refers to an improvement<\/a> in women’s political, social, educational, economic, and health status. Beyond individual women, it has far-reaching benefits for their families and communities as well. For instance, research indicates that women’s empowerment is positively associated<\/a> with improved health, education outcomes for children, and increased competitiveness on human development indicators. By 2030, India has committed to making sure that women and girls contribute as equal partners to the growth and development of the country under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-5<\/a>. However, according to the recently released Global Gender Gap Report 2020<\/a>, India ranks 140 among 154 countries<\/a>. In this context, how much progress have we really made towards achieving the goal of gender equality under the SDGs?<\/p>

Findings from the first phase of the 5th National Family and Health Survey<\/a> (NFHS) were released in December 2020. Our analysis of the data and trends captured by the NFHS-5 across 18 states and four union territories has helped us better understand where our performance should be celebrated, and where it is being held back. <\/p>

Understanding women’s empowerment in the context of the NFHS<\/strong><\/h3>

In India, the NFHS measures women’s empowerment, albeit in a narrow sense. It measures six factors<\/a>—three related to ownership of physical assets (mobile phones, bank accounts, land, and housing), access to menstrual hygiene products, participation in three key household decisions (healthcare for herself, household purchases, and visits to family or relatives), and employment status over the last year. <\/p>

\"What<\/a><\/div>

We must ensure that bottom-up surveys like the NFHS are measuring what is critical, and not just what ties in easily with schemes.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Additionally, several other parameters captured by the survey also help measure empowerment. These include the incidence of gender violence, marriage under the age of 18, educational attainment of more than 10 years, and so on. However, these do not fall within the survey’s ‘women’s empowerment’ bucket. <\/p>

It’s worthwhile to note that several important indicators which are a part of the SDGs are not yet captured by the NFHS. These include measurements around time spent on domestic or unpaid work, decisions on reproductive health, and the incidence of genital mutilation, among others. Indicators on aspects of political empowerment, such as the perception of women in their communities, are not tracked at all in the NFHS.<\/p>

\"Parameters<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>
Parameters captured by NFHS-5 that speaks to issues of empowerment among women. <\/figcaption><\/figure>

We have made some progress on metrics around education and health<\/h3>

Educational attainment for girls has improved<\/strong><\/h3>

According to our analysis of the NHFS-5 data, the share of women with more than 10 years of schooling has increased by 5.5 percentage points when compared to NFHS-4 data from 2015. The gender gap between the share of men with 10 plus years of schooling and the share of women with 10 plus years of schooling has decreased to eight percent (from 11.5 percent in 2015).<\/p>

Improvement in two key healthcare indicators tracked by the NFHS<\/strong><\/h3>

Menstrual hygiene and sex ratio at birth are two indicators that have improved over the past five years. The share of women using hygienic methods such as locally prepared napkins, sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups during menstruation has increased from 60 percent to 78 percent. The sex ratio at birth has also improved and now stands at 942 females for every 1,000 males. We are making slow progress towards our SDG goal<\/a> of 954 females for every 1,000 males by 2030. However, urban areas with 928 female births for every 1000 male births continue to lag behind rural areas, where there are 947 females for every 1000 males. Better access<\/a> to scans and sex determination tests in urban clusters likely to contribute to this.<\/p>

Yet, on several social and economic parameters, our position is stagnating or worsening<\/h3>

Input variables for economic empowerment are showing improvement, but key output variables are stagnating<\/strong><\/h3>

Several input indicators that drive women’s economic participation, such as bank account ownership and mobile phone ownership, have jumped by 28 percentage points and 10 percentage points respectively since 2015. The government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana<\/a> scheme, increasing prevalence<\/a> of the internet in day-to-day life, and the low costs of mobile phones and data are likely explanations for this increase. On the other hand, key output variables such as the share of married women employed and getting paid still stands at a mere 28 percent—an improvement of only two percent since 2015 and a decline of two percent as compared to 2005. This is driven by a significant reduction in women’s participation in the country’s labour force.1<\/a><\/sup> Factors that prevent women from entering the job market include increased rural mechanisation<\/a>, an increase in education levels that may not be matched by equivalent job creation<\/a>, and several other socio-cultural factors<\/a> such as safety concerns<\/a> associated with certain types of jobs, the burden of unpaid care<\/a>, and so on.<\/p>

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\"Trends<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/a>
Trends observed across social empowerment indicators. Source: 5th National Family and Health Survey<\/a> (NFHS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Metrics relating to cultural attitudes are proving to be particularly troubling<\/strong><\/h3>

While participation in household decisions (already at around 85 percent in 2015) continues to rise, most other trends are stagnating or worsening:<\/p>