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Akansha Singh and Laishram Ladusingh

Figure 7. Age-specific contribution to sex differences in life disparity at two time periods, in major states of India.

male–female difference in life disparity in both 1970–1975 and 2006–2010, and states such as Hi-
machal Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu had a positive difference for both the time periods.
In 1970–1975, the sex differential in life disparity was negative for most of the states, suggesting a
higher female life disparity than male. In 1970–1975, in states with poor mortality indicators like
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar as well as states with better mortality indicators like Punjab, Ha-
ryana and Karnataka, the negative difference in life disparity was largely due to higher female mor-
tality at or below 14 years. The female life disparity in Kerala was lower than males in both periods,
with increasing contribution of adult and older age groups to this gap in 2006–2010. The transition
in the role of age-specific mortality toward sex difference in both periods is evident in the Group 1
states. The analysis shows that in all the states, the positive sex difference in life disparity in
2006–2010 was mainly attributed to the higher male mortality in the adult age group (30–59 years)
and the older age group (60+ years). This contribution was larger in states like Maharashtra and
Punjab, which are in the advanced stages of mortality transition in India. The states in Group 2 also
experienced a similar change. However, the contributions of child age group (0–14 years) and
younger adult age group (15–29 years) was also significant for the states in Group 2.

4. Discussion and Conclusions

Essentially, life disparity measures the dispersion of deaths, whereas life expectancy is a measure of
the average length of life. An important factor in increased life expectancy in India is the contribu-
tion of infant and child mortality (Singh and Ladusingh, 2016). While trends in infant mortality are
important, a small change in early ages of mortality would have a significant effect on the momen-
tum of age distribution at death (Edwards and Tuljapurkar, 2005). Unlike S 10, life disparity covers
the child, adult and old age group and holds an important public health interpretation. For a devel-
oping country like India, where the infant and child mortality are still high as compared with those in
developed countries, using life disparity to study the dispersion of deaths is most suitable. Life dis-
parity at specific age can be easily compared to the life expectancy at specific ages.
This study is distinctive in the sense that it analyzed the sex differentials in life expectancy at birth
and life disparity at the same time. Furthermore, the study demonstrated the changing dynamics of
different age groups and their contribution to the differences between the male and female life ex-

International Journal of Population Studies | 2016, Volume 2, Issue 1 47