The persistent caste divide in India’s infant mortality: A study of Dalits (ex-untouchables), Adivasis (indigenous peoples), Other Backward Classes, and forward castes
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Using data from two national surveys, this paper examines caste differences in infant mortality in India. We find that children from the three lower caste groups—Dalits (ex-untouchables), Adivasis (indigenous peoples), and Other Backward Classes—are significantly more likely than forward-caste children to die young. While this observation largely mirrors caste differences in socioeconomic conditions, low socioeconomic status is found to be only a partial explanation for higher infant mortality among lower castes. Higher mortality risks among backward-class children are almost entirely attributable to background characteristics. However, Dalit children are most vulnerable in the neonatal period even when all background characteristics are taken into account, whereas Adivasi children remain highly vulnerable in the post-neonatal period.Au moyen des données provenant des deux enquêtes nationales, cet article examine les différences dans la mortalité infantile par caste en Inde. Nous constatons que, par rapport aux enfants des castes élevées, ceux des trois castes inférieures, notamment les dalits (les ex-intouchables), les adivasis (peuples indigènes) et autres classes défavorisées (plusieurs castes désignées comme appartenant à un groupe défavorisé) courent un risque beaucoup plus grand de mourir jeunes. Bien que cette observation reflète largement les différences entre les castes sur le plan socioéconomique, le faible niveau socioéconomique n’explique qu’en partie le taux de mortalité plus élevé chez les castes inférieures. Les risques de mortalité des enfants des castes inférieures étaient presque entièrement attribuables aux caractéristiques des antécédents de la mère. Cependant, les enfants dalits demeurent les plus vulnérables pendant la période néonatale, bien que le risque de mortalité demeure le même que celui des enfants des castes supérieures pour la période post-néonatale. L’inverse est vrai pour les enfants adivasis : les caractéristiques des antécédents expliquent leur plus grande vulnérabilité pendant la période néonatale, mais pas pendant la période post-néonatale.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".