Exploring caste and gender inequalities through the lens of occupation and education: Based on IHDS-II survey data (2011-12)

Abstract

For our research, we source our data from the India Human Development Survey – II ( IHDS-II), 2011- 2012. This is a nationally representative, multi-topic survey of 42,152 households in 1,503 villages and 971 urban neighbourhoods across India. The database has been created by mostly re-interviewing households which were first interviewed for IHDS – I in 2004-2005. The survey covers a wide array topics from health, education, employment, economic status , marriage, fertility, gender relations, social capital, village infrastructure, wage levels and panchayat compositions. The data is further organized into fourteen data sheets. (Desai, Sonalde, Vannerman, & Reeve, 2012). For our analysis we have extracted data mainly from 1. Individual and 2. Household datasets. The study does basic descriptive analysis taking a snapshot of the Indian scenario based the IHDS-II, 2011-2012 data. The data set is of extreme interest since the data collection has been done just one year after the Right to Education has been enacted. It helps analyse the gains enjoyed by the act and also the segments which the act can focus to for further bridging the socio-economic gaps. The primary focus has been of two social groups as recorded by the survey, namely – ‘Sex’ which represents the gender of the individuals surveys and ‘Groups’ which is classification done based on a combination of ‘Caste & Religion’. Under this label, the population has been categorized as ‘Brahmins’, ’Forward Caste’, ’OBCs’, ’Dalits’, ’Adivasis’, ’Muslims’ & ‘Christians, Jains & Sikhs’. The analysis has been done on a national level with splits between urban and rural to trace difference in trends. ‘Primary Activity Status’ in the individual data set help us understand what is the primary activity the individual is involved and a similar data point namely, ‘main source of income’ in the household data set gives us a picture at the household level.