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IS HEALTH STATUS OF ELDERLY WORSENING IN INDIA? A COMPARISON OF SUCCESSIVE ROUNDS OF NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY DATA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2010

ZAKIR HUSAIN  and
SASWATA GHOSH
ZAKIR HUSAIN
Affiliation:
Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth, India
SASWATA GHOSH
Affiliation:
Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, India
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Summary

The increasing greying of India's population raises concerns about the welfare and health status of the aged. One important source of information of health status of the elderly is the National Sample Survey Rounds on Morbidity and Health Care Expenditure. Using unit-level data for 1995–96 and 2004, this paper examines changes in reported health status of the elderly in India and analyses their relationship with living arrangements and extent of economic dependency. It appears that even after controlling for factors like caste, education, age, economic status and place of residence, there has been a deterioration in self-perceived current health status of the elderly. The paper argues that, although there have been changes in the economic condition and traditional living arrangements – with a decline in co-residential arrangements – this is not enough to explain the decline in reported health status and calls for a closer look at narratives of neglect being voiced in developing countries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , March 2011 , pp. 211 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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