Table 3.4 Social Indicators in India, Ghana, and Ethiopia, by Gender India Indicator Adult mortality rate (per 1,000 adults of respective gender), 2006 Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 children under the age of 1 of respective gender), 2003a Primary school enrollment rate (net percent of respective gender), 2005 Primary school completion rate (percent of relevant age group of respective gender), 2005 Adult literacy rate (percent of respective gender 15 and older)b Child employment in agriculture (percent of children 7–14 of respective gender)c
Ghana
Ethiopia
Female Male Female Male Female Male 168
260
283
289
329
367
37
25
52
44
56
56
87
90
64
64
56
63
82
87
68
73
34
48
48
73
50
66
23
50
77
70
68
89
91
97
Source: World Development Indicators database (www.worldbank.org/data). a. 2005 in Ethiopia. b. 2000 in Ghana, 2001 in India, and 2004 in Ethiopia. c. 2000 in India, 2003 in Ghana, and 2005 in Ethiopia.
social progress. As in the case of economic indicators, Ghana represents a middle ground between India and Ethiopia. India’s female adult mortality rate is about half that of Ethiopia (168 per 1,000 versus 329 per 1,000). It is also much lower than the male adult mortality rate (260 per 1,000). In Ethiopia, infant mortality rates for boys and girls are identical; in India infant mortality is far higher for girls than for boys, for reasons that have been discussed in the literature (Sen 1990b). In Ghana, girls are also significantly more likely to die during their first year of life (52 deaths per 1,000 for girls, 44 for boys), although this gender differential is not as pronounced as in India. India has achieved fairly high rates of primary school enrollment for both boys (90 percent) and girls (87 percent); the rates for Ghana and Ethiopia are still below 65 percent. A similar disparity exists in primary school completion rates. Only one-third of girls in Ethiopia complete primary school. Adult literacy rates are lowest in Ethiopia, where only 23 percent of women—less than half the percentage for men—are able to read. Although the rates are higher in the other two countries, the share of women that can read does not exceed 50 percent in either country. Child employment rates in agriculture are high
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GENDER AND GOVERNANCE IN RURAL SERVICES