Demographic Profile and Status Indicators of Women in india | Indian Society for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Demographic Profile And Status Indicators Of Women in India

The form and extent of work, political participation, levels of education, state of health, representation in decision making bodies, access to property etc. are some relevant indicators of status of the individual members in a society. However, not all members of a society, especially women, have equal access to the factors which constitute these indicators of status.

• Sex Ratio – Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per 1000 of males.  NFHS-5 data shows that there were 1,020 women for 1000 men in the country in 2019-2021. This is the highest sex ratio for any NFHS survey as well as since the first modern synchronous census conducted in 1881.
• Health- as per the National Family Health Survey 5, The prevalence of anaemia is 59.1 percent in adolescent girls and 52.2 percent in pregnant women (15-49 years). Teen pregnancies pose three times more risks of mortality for girls. The reproductive and sexual health needs of women are often neglected. 
• Literacy and Education - The female literacy levels according to the Literacy Rate 2011 census are 65.46% where the male literacy rate is over 80%. The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for girls in elementary education (grades 1-8) in India was 100% in 2019. Female enrollment in higher education has increased from 39% in 2006-07 to 48.6% in 2018-19. In rural India, over 38% of girls dropout before completing seven years of school.
• Employment – Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Data for Women in India indicates that for women in the working age group (15-59 years), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is only 35.6 per cent in India.There are multiple factors that contribute to the diminished labour force involvement of married women or their tendency to exit the labour field after marriage. Therefore, it is important to look at suitable solutions to promote women’s empowerment in the phase of high economic growth.
• Political Status - As per the latest available report of the Election Commission of India (ECI), women represent 10.5% of all Members of Parliament as of October 2021. For all the state assemblies, female MLAs’ representation stands at an average of 9%. India’s ranking in this regard has fallen over the last few years. It is currently behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. 

The 73rd & 74th amendments to the constitution have ensured the participation of women in local bodies with a reservation of 1/3rd for women. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam similarly reserves 1/3rd seats for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas.

Women related indicators:

NFHS-5

Women-Specific Findings of NFHS 5: The Positive Side

1. TFR Below Replacement Level: India’s population growth appears to be stabilising.
   • The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the average number of children born per woman, has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level.
2.  Improvements in Female Literacy: Significant improvements in female literacy have been witnessed with 41% women having received 10 or more years of schooling (compared to 36% in 2015-16).
3. Improved Maternal Health Delivery: Maternal health services are steadily improving.Institutional births were accessed by 88.6% of women in 2019-21, marking an increase of 9.8% points from 2015-16.
4. Better Menstrual Health: The proportion of women (aged 15-24 years) who use menstrual hygiene products has also increased by almost 20% points between 2015-16 and 2019-21 and currently stands at 77.3%.
5. Technology and Banking Related Progress: The proportion of women who have their own bank accounts has gone up by 25.6% points over the same time period to reach 78.6% Around 54% of women have their own mobile phones and about one in three women have used the Internet.

Downside of the Survey

• Lesser Institutional Delivery in Certain States: The survey indicates a worrisome figure of 11% of pregnant women who were still either unreached by a skilled birth attendant or not accessing institutional facilities.
• Teenage Pregnancy: Teenage pregnancy has declined only marginally by 1% point and 7.9% of women in the age group of 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey.
• Low Access of Reproductive Health Services: A very small segment of the population is currently accessing the full range of sexual and reproductive health services such as screening tests for cervical cancer (1.9%) and breast examinations (0.9%).
• Negligible Decline in Child Marriage: The prevalence of child marriage has gone down but only marginally from 26.8% in 2015-16 to 23.3% in 2019-21. One in three women continue to face violence from their spouse.
• Low Economic Contribution: Women’s participation in the economy continues to remain low (only 25.6% women engaged in paid work, a meagre increase of 0.8% point).

NCRB

Despite a decline in overall crime rate in 2022, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report highlights a 4% rise in crimes against women.
The majority of crimes included:

• Cruelty by husband or relatives (31.4%),
• Kidnapping and abduction (19.2%),
• Assault with intent to outrage modesty (18.7%), and
• Rape (7.1%).

Global Gender Gap Report 2023: WEF

India has made significant progress, rising from 135^th (in 2022) to 127^th out of 146 countries in the report's 2023 edition, indicating an improvement in its ranking.India had closed 64.3% of the overall gender gap.

1. Gender Parity in Education:
   • India has achieved parity in enrolment across all levels of education, reflecting a positive development in the country's education system.
2. Economic Participation and Opportunity:
   • India's progress in economic participation and opportunity remains a challenge, with only 36.7% gender parity achieved in this domain.
   • While there has been an uptick in parity in wages and income, there is a slight drop in the representation of women in senior positions and technical roles.
3. Political Empowerment:
   • India has made strides in political empowerment, achieving 25% parity in this domain. Women represent 15.1% of parliamentarians, which is the highest representation since the inaugural report in 2006.
4. Health and Survival:
   • There is a 1.9%-point improvement in India's sex ratio at birth, after more than a decade of slow progress.
   • However, India, still has relatively low scores on the Health and Survival sub-index due to skewed sex ratios.