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This PDF is a research study that investigates how This PDF is a research study that investigates how different forms of poverty—beyond income alone—affect life expectancy, mortality risk, and longevity outcomes in India. It uses a multidimensional poverty approach, which includes factors such as education, nutrition, housing, sanitation, and energy access, to understand how deprivation influences survival across India’s diverse regions and populations.
The core message of the study is:
In India, longevity is shaped not just by economic poverty but by overlapping social, health, and living-condition deprivations.
📘 Purpose of the Study
The study aims to:
Link multidimensional poverty indicators with longevity outcomes
Identify which deprivations most strongly limit life expectancy
Explore regional, urban–rural, gender, and caste disparities
Provide policy insights for improving survival and reducing inequality
It positions multidimensional poverty as a crucial lens for understanding why India’s longevity improvements are uneven and unequal.
🧠 Core Themes and Key Insights
1. Multidimensional Poverty Is Widespread and Uneven in India
The study uses indicators such as:
Nutrition
Child mortality
Years of schooling
Cooking fuel
Sanitation
Housing conditions
Drinking water
Electricity
These deprivations cluster differently across:
States
Urban vs. rural areas
Caste groups
Religious communities
Gender
This complex deprivation pattern drives major differences in longevity.
2. Poverty–Longevity Relationship Is Strong and Non-Linear
The study finds:
Individuals experiencing multiple deprivations live significantly shorter lives.
Life expectancy varies widely across states depending on poverty levels.
Reducing even one or two key deprivations can substantially improve survival chances.
The relationship between poverty and longevity is not just additive—it is multiplicative.
3. State-Level Disparities Are Enormous
The PDF highlights clear contrasts:
States like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu show high life expectancy and low multidimensional poverty.
States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh show high poverty and lower life expectancy.
The analysis demonstrates that geography is a strong predictor of survival.
4. Urban–Rural Divide
Urban India has:
Lower multidimensional poverty
Higher life expectancy
Rural India has:
Severe deprivation in sanitation, fuel, housing, and health access
Higher disease burden
Lower longevity
The rural–urban gap is structural, persistent, and strongly linked to public service availability.
5. Social Inequalities Matter
The study shows large differences in longevity across:
Caste groups (SC/ST vs. general caste)
Gender
Religious communities
Household composition
These inequalities are amplified by multidimensional poverty.
6. Which Deprivations Hurt Longevity the Most?
The paper identifies critical drivers of shortened lifespan:
Malnutrition
Lack of sanitation
Unsafe cooking fuels (indoor air pollution)
Poor housing
Lack of education
Limited electricity access
These factors combine to increase:
Childhood mortality
Adult morbidity
Infectious disease vulnerability
NCD burden
7. Policy Implications
The PDF argues that India must:
Target multidimensional poverty reduction, not just income growth
Prioritize nutrition, sanitation, health services, and clean energy
Address social inequalities through inclusive development
Use multidimensional indicators for planning and budgeting
Invest in high-poverty, low-longevity regions
It stresses that improvements in survival require cross-sectoral interventions.
⭐ Overall Summary
“Multidimensional Poverty and Longevity in India” demonstrates that poverty is multidimensional, and so is longevity. Deprivations in health, education, nutrition, and living conditions combine to reduce life expectancy and widen inequality between states, castes, genders, and regions. The study argues that improving longevity in India demands addressing multiple overlapping deprivations, not just income poverty.... |