India

Development trends and the questions they raise for the Young Lives project

In India, Young Lives is working in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). As with the other countries included in the study, India is undergoing a process of liberalisation that is referred to nationally as LPG (‘liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation’). Improvements in economic growth and social development have speeded up in recent years, but India continues to have some of the lowest Human Development Indicators in the world and GDP per head is only half that of China’s, despite having a similarly large population.

What does the future hold for the 2000 Young Lives index children born in the state of Andhra Pradesh? Child mortality below the age of 5 decreased slightly in the last decade but remains high at 85.5 per 1000 children, and is higher for girls than boys. Immunisation levels are at only 40%. This raises the question: What are the mitigating circumstances that ensure that a child from a very poor household survives into his or her sixth year?

As part of the LPG plan, social sector spending in AP has been reduced over the last decade, user charges have been introduced in hospitals, and agricultural subsidies have been removed. All these policies will have various impacts upon the development and welfare of children. How will a policy of cost recovery affect household expenditure patterns and more specifically, investment in child welfare? Will the removal of agricultural support result in an increase in rural-urban migration, and what affect will this have on index children growing up in migrating households? Young Lives is committed to following the children of migrants throughout the life of the project in order to understand the long-term impacts of migration on a child’s life.

Whilst AP has seen a reduction in state expenditure, it has not seen an equivalent increase in foreign investment, and it runs the risk of being left behind by other more successful states. Whilst the state of Maharashtra attracted 22% of all investment in the last decade, AP attracted only 6.5%. As the Indian economy opens up more and more to foreign investment and new export industries are developed, how will livelihood strategies change in AP, and how will children be affected by these changes?

Young Lives will track policy development in detail at local, national and international levels over the next 15 years with the aim of developing a better understanding of how policy is related to child poverty.

Our findings and data

Here you will find our latest country report and country report summary, offering a detailed overview of the initial trends emerging in Young Lives research to date:

Young Lives: India Round 2 Survey. Country Report. September 2008 [Forthcoming - please contact us to request a copy when available]

Young Lives: India Round 2 Survey. Summary report document. September 2008 [PDF file 58 KB]

Round 2 Initial Key Findings summary for India. September 2008. [PDF file 103 KB]

The first data and analysis gathered during 2001/2002 is also available here:
India Round 1 Preliminary Country Report. 2003. [PDF file 1945 KB]

You can also download an overview of existing research on poverty in India
Technical Note 7. Trends in Andhra Pradesh with a Focus on Poverty. Arnab Mukherji. March 2008. [PDF file 880 KB]

Young Lives key team members in India

Policy Coordinator: Ajay Sinha, Save the Children- Bal Raksha, Bharat

Principal Investigator: Prof S Galab, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)

Lead Qualitative Researcher: Prof Uma Vennam, Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalam (SPMVV)

[Credit: Top of page: photographer Michael Monteiro]