INTRODUCTION:

Gender disparity in population ageing is increasingly becoming an issue for concern throughout the world because of lower mortality rate of females aged over 60 years.

In almost all countries of the world, females enjoy an advantage over males in terms of life expectancy. In developed countries, the average gap in life expectancy between the sexes is approximately seven years. In some countries (e.g., Russia, Estonia, Belarus), gender differentials in life expectancy exceed 10 years as a result of unusually high levels of current adult male mortality. In contrast, developing countries have a relatively small 3-year difference in life expectancy between the sexes. This smaller differential is, at least in part, due to high levels of maternal mortality in some developing countries. The female advantage in life expectancy continues throughout the life course but is smaller in developing countries. Although women tend to live longer than men, they also tend to spend more of their older years in a disabled state¹.

Most of the issues challenging older persons are concentrated among females-if they are unmarried or widowed. Women commonly spend their later years without a partner. In such circumstances, women are perceived to be economically and socially vulnerable. Their activities at most stages of their lives are commonly home-based and that lie outside the formal economic sector hence women are prone to serious economic, social, family, and above all, health problems².

The term the feminization of later life has been used to describe how women predominate at older ages and how the proportions increase with advancing age³. By 2025, many national proportions will exceed 15 percent, and in Italy and Japan, older women will constitute more than 18 percent of the total population. In other words, 1 out of every 6 Italians and Japanese will be an older woman. Although older women account for a smaller proportion of total population in developing countries, proportions are expected to increase in these countries as well, and to more than double in the world’s most populous nation, China⁴.

In an ageing society and an ageing world, the fate of individuals and groups as they grow older becomes inextricably linked to the well being of the overall society. For example, older women are much more likely to be poor in later life, with many of them relying on modest Social Security survivor benefits as their sole source of income⁵.

Table below shows that sex ratio of the elderly in India was considerably high (1028) in 1951 and subsequently dropped to about 930 in 1991, the year 2001 reveals an increase in sex ratio (972) and finally increased up to 1033 in 2011. Higher sex ratio of the elderly population is the result of the decreasing birth rate, fall in death rate and longevity of life of the people on account of improved and better economic well being, better medicines and medical facilities.

Table 1: Sex ratio of elderly population (1951-2011)

Year	Sex ratio of elderly population
1951	1028
1961	1000
1971	938
1981	960
1991	930
2001	972
2011	1033

Source: Census of India

In India, the percentage of the elderly living alone, although small, has increased significantly. Households headed by females in rural India increase with advancing age due to the higher number of widows than widowers among the elderly. Nuclear families are also more likely to be found among the younger elderly compared to the older elderly. India is expected to have an increasingly large proportion of nuclear families and elderly living alone in the near future especially in rural India. The study points to the need to strengthen old age policies for public-private support in the coming years as living arrangements of the elderly will cause serious concern as the demographic and socio-economic transition progresses, particularly in rural India⁶.

The North East region is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse regions in India. Each of the states that form this part of India has its own culture and tradition. Assam occupies the lush lowlands of the Brahmaputra valley and is the most densely populated. Arunachal pradesh occupies the densely forested and sparsely populated foothills of the Himalayas. Meghalaya with its pine clad hills and lakes, is famous as the wettest region of the world. Nagaland has a rich war history that attracts tourists. The other three states-Manipur known as the ‘land of jewels’, Mizoram and Tripura make up a fascinating area consisting of green valleys, lush hills with variety of flora and fauna. About three quarter of the region is covered by hilly terrain and one quarter is made up of the four plain areas of Assam Brahmaputra and Barak valleys, the Tripura plains, and the Manipur plateau. Those in the thinly populated areas are the people we now call “tribal”, and in the fertile plains and plateau are mainly the “non tribal” people who comprise more than 80 percent of the total population⁷.

The tribes of the North East India have a world of their own. The ecological and techno-economic factors, which shaped different cultural patterns, have given rise to the stage of transformation. Majority of the older poor lives in rural areas and is typically engaged in agriculture until they can no longer work in the fields. Poverty among the older people particularly in rural areas is linked to low levels of literacy, low standard of health, lack of access to information, social exclusion and isolation. Furthermore, young adults are leaving rural areas for the city, undermining the structure of the traditional family, and leaving older persons especially widows, living in poverty in rural areas.

Women employees have been fortunate enough to benefit from a public service pension and women who have not worked in formal employment for most of their adult lives become even more heavily reliant on their husband's status and income, therefore after husband's death, they lack acceptance in the community or family.

Study Area:

The study area covers the whole of the North East, which include seven states namely Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The latitudinal extent and longitudinal extent of the region falls between 27˚ 57’ N and 28˚ 23’ N latitudes and 89˚ 46’E and 97˚ 25’E longitude. North East India occupies an area of 255,000 sq kms. This largely hilly area comprises about 7 per cent landmass of India. The valley of the river Brahmaputra in the state of Assam is the most expansive plains area in North East India.

MATERIAL and Method:

The necessary materials for the study have been collected from the secondary sources such as the age tables from census reports. Besides, data available from National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-1, NFHS-II and NFHS-III has been profitably used for macro understanding of the process of ageing in India and in the North-East India.

The old age proportion calculated on the basis of the proportion of the aged defined 60 years and above. The analysis was confined to a period of 30 years beginning from 1971 to 2001, by analyzing ageing index as one of the indicators, as it is widely believed that the ageing process has been far more strongly manifested in India since the seventies. They are calculated as below:

Elderly Population=60/64+years

Ageing Index (AI)=(Elderly Population/Youth Population)*100

Median Age: L+N/2-cf/F*CI where

L=Lower Limit of Median Class, N=Total No. of Frequency, cf=Cumulative frequency for preceding class, F=Frequency of the median class, CI=Class interval

Result:

Since the tribal population has little gender disparity in most socio-economic parameters it may be worthwhile to examine the gender gap in ageing process in areas of tribal domination with respect to three key indicators of gender gap namely the proportion of the aged, ageing index and median age.

Proportion of the Aged:

It is evident from figure 1 that Gender gap in the proportion of the aged in the population in tribal areas is far too evident in major part of the region with aged male proportion being higher than that of the males in far numerous districts. What is even more important is the fact that this gap is widening in more areas over the decades. Districts where aged female proportion was more than that of the males are reducing in number during 1971-2001 periods. Likewise the number of districts with no or little gender gap too are becoming far less numerous.

In 1971, proportion of aged females exceeded that of the males in eastern and western Arunachal Himalayas, southern Naga Hills, eastern Manipur Hills, and Mizo Hills except the northeastern part. In the rest of the region proportion of aged males was more. In 1981, proportion of aged females exceeded that of the males in eastern Arunachal Himalayas, north Naga Hills, eastern Meghalaya plateau, and whole of Mizo Hills. In 1991 such areas included only eastern Arunachal Himalayas, eastern Meghalaya plateau, and Mizo Hills. In 2001such areas included central and western Arunachal Himalayas, eastern and southern Meghalaya plateau, Tripura and Mizo Hills. A district in Manipur Hills and Mizo Hills had little gender gap.

Fig 1. Areas of Tribal Dominance-Gender Disparity in Proportion of Aged

Ageing Index:

As far as ageing index is concerned a similar trend of widening gender gap is quite evident (figure 2). With each passing decade the number of districts with higher ageing index of females is declining. It is interesting that the ageing index of females exceeded that of the males in a majority of districts in the year 1971. However, by 1991 and 2001, such districts have become fewer in comparison to districts where the ageing index of the males exceeded that of the females.

Areas like Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya which had higher female ageing index in 1971 turned into areas where the ageing index of males was higher in 2001.Similar is the story for a number of districts in Mizoram and Assam Hills. An exception is seen in the lone Tripura district with substantial tribal population, which experienced a reversal during 1971-2001 decades. The ageing index for females improved substantially to surpass that for the males in 2001. By the year 2001, male ageing index exceeded in Arunachal Himalayas, Naga Hills, southern Assam Hills, nearly all of Meghalaya plateau, and a few pockets in Mizo Hills.

Fig 2. Areas of Tribal Dominance-Gender Disparity in Ageing Index

Fig 3. Areas of Tribal Dominance-Gender Disparity in Median Age

Median Age:

With regard to median age, the data is available for the year 2001 only and figure 3 reveals large gender difference in the median age in areas of Tribal Dominance in North East India in year 2001. In as many as 25 of 38 districts, the male median age is higher than that of women. There are just two districts, one in Meghalaya and the other in Nagaland where the male and female median age is equal.

Female median age is higher than that of the males in extremely few districts mostly confined to Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

discussion:

Gender gap in the proportion of the aged and ageing index in the population in tribal areas is far too evident in major part of the region with aged male proportion and ageing index being higher than that of the females in far numerous districts. This abnormality in pattern of distribution of both the indicators of population ageing during these time period reveals that males attain better health condition than females. The study unknown for the reasons needs to be taken up for further detail research by researchers.

References:

1. Colvez, Alain, 1996, “Disability Free Life Expectancy”, in Shah Ebrahim and Alex Kalache, eds., Epidemiology in Old Age, London.

2. Higuchi, K. 1986. The Greying of Asia: Demographic Dimensions. Asian Population Studies, Series No. 141, ESCAP. United Nation.

3. Arber, S. and J. Ginn, 1994. “Women and Ageing”, Review in Clinical Gerontology 1994, Vol. 4, pp. 349-358.

4. Yvonne J. Gist and Victoria A. Velkoff. 1997. Gender and Ageing profiles: Demographic Dimensions, Demography of Ageing, Behavioral and Social Research Program, U.S. National Institute on Ageing. IB/97-3.

5. Beedon, L., & Wu, K. 2005. Women age 65 and older: Their sources of income. AARP Research Report publication ID: DD126. Retrieved August 27, 2005 from http://www.aarp.org/research/socialsecurity/benefits/dd126_women.html.

6. Preeti and Laishram, L. An Analysis of Changing Living Arrangements of Elderly in India, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. Retrieved from www.asianpa.org/download/doc/7-56-vulnerability-of-the-elderly February 14, 2013.

7. Raatan T. 2011. History, Religion and culture of North East India. Isha Publication Delhi, p10.

Received on 16.05.2018 Modified on 26.06.2018

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(3): 541-545

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00091.8

Gender Disparity in Population ageing in areas of Tribal Dominance of North Eastern Region of India