ADOLESCENT MOTHERHOOD IN INDIA: EVIDENCE OF DIVERGING REGIONAL TREND AND INTENSIFYING GROUP INEQUALITY

In view of shifting attention from an exclusive focus on income/consumption deprivation to multidimensional development discourse, and in view of mounting anxieties over India’s sluggish progress in non-income indicators of human well-being the urgent need in today’s socio-demographic researches is to identify the events that cause capability deprivation at individual level, and ultimately result in debilitating outcome for the country as a whole. This paper identifies adolescent motherhood as one of such events that has life-long effects not only in terms of physical, psychological and cognitive concerns of women; also in terms of loss of freedom at decision-making platforms. Taking the stock of information generated by the third round of the national family health survey (NFHS-3) it examines whether and to what extent the incidence of adolescent childbearing in the country had declined over time, and in addition, whether the decline is associated with evidences of regional convergence. It further quantifies the level of inequalities across the states, and among socioeconomic groups. The results confirm that a moderate decline in overall national adolescent motherhood rate over past two decades is associated with clear evidences of diverging trend across the states, also with rising inequalities across states and among disadvantaged groups.