Assessing how the female literacy rate affects both the crude birth rate and infant mortality rate.

Abstract

The Female Literacy Rate in India has a profound impact on both the Crude Birth Rate and Infant Mortality Rate. Investments in female education, alongside efforts to address socioeconomic disparities and cultural norms, are essential to further reduce these rates, leading to healthier families and a more prosperous society. Examining the impact of the Female Literacy Rate on both the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) provides valuable insights into the intersection of education and public health. Educating women significantly contributes to the overall improvement of maternal and child health outcomes, fostering healthier communities and sustainable social development. The paper analyses the correlation among female literacy rates and other general indicators of modernization and development such as male literacy rate, sex ratio and urbanisation on crude birth rate in Model 1 and infant mortality rate in Model 2. By collecting a panel of data for 28 states and 7 union territories of India and 3 censuses (1991, 2001 and 2011) and utilizing estimation techniques such as pooled OLS, fixed effects, random effects and Hausman test, this paper has found evidences supporting a negative direct impact of female literacy on crude birth rate and infant mortality rate but insignificant effect of other indicators on crude birth rate and infant mortality rate. Crude birth rate was highest in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2001 census. While, the state where crude birth rate and infant mortality rate was lowest is Goa in 2011 census. The state which shows highest % of infants dying is Odisha in 1991 census. Kerala is the only state where maximum percentage of female literate can be found for all the three censuses while Rajasthan remains backward to educate their women. Similarly, Lakshadweep islands show the maximum percentage of male literates in 2011 while this number is lower in Bihar in 1991 census. The state where sex ratio is higher is in Kerala in 2011 census while in Daman and Diu sex ratio was lowest in 2011 census. Delhi has highest percentage of urbanisation while Dadar and Nagar Haveli have the minimum. No state had average crude birth rate higher than average female literacy rates and also every state had higher average female literacy rate than average infant mortality rate. Hausman test predicts that both models have random effect which means there is no correlation of error terms and predictor variables.