Young Lives preliminary country report: Andhra Pradesh, India

Young Lives: An International Study of Childhood Poverty aims at improving our understanding of the causes and consequences of childhood poverty in the developing world, and at informing policy to reduce it. In each of four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam), a longitudinal survey will follow children every three years until they are 15.

In India, the project has been implemented in Andhra Pradesh by two organisations, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad and Save the Children UK (India). During the first phase of the study, 2,000 index children aged 6–17.9 months (one-year-olds) and 1,000 children aged 7.5–8.5 years (eight-year-olds) and their households were selected from 20 sentinel sites located across the three regions of Andhra Pradesh. Highlights of the descriptive data analysis:

• caregivers of index children: 59% of primary caregivers had never attended school; 2% had completed below primary level education and 11% had completed primary level schooling. 17% had completed high school and above
• nutrition of the index child: high levels of malnutrition were recorded among the index children. 28% were stunted, 20% were wasted and 45% were underweight. More children in rural areas were stunted and underweight than in urban areas
• physical health of the index child: 5% of children suffered from a chronic health problem; 24% had experienced an acute bout of illness in the 24 hours prior to interview; and 18% had experienced a severe injury or accident. These morbidity outcomes were more prevalent among rural children and those from the poorest households
• antenatal care during pregnancy with the index children: 88% of mothers received ante-natal care and there was near universal coverage of tetanus vaccination during pregnancy (98%)
• immunisation of index children: 84% of index children aged over one year had received immunisation against BCG, polio and measles. Immunisation coverage was lowest amongst children from the poorest wealth group
• child mental health: 19% of eight-year-old children were classified as ‘abnormal cases’ for mental disorders. Prevalence is higher among rural children (21%) and among the poorest children (23%)
• child work, schooling and life skills: a small proportion of 8 year-old children reported that they had worked for money and goods. 98% of children had at some time attended school and 95% were currently attending school. 46% of children from rural areas and only 38% of children from the poorest families had age-appropriate literacy skills. Children displayed more competent numeracy than literacy skills

Data is also offered for: perceptions of wellbeing of eight-year-olds; child work, schooling and life skills; physical health of eight-year-olds; nutrition of the eight-year-olds (7.5–8.5 year-olds); social capital; care of the index child; livelihoods; the index child’s household.