Socio-Economic Profile of the Households with Children in Hill Region of Darjeeling District, India

Abstract

The background of the socio-economic status of households having children is critical to the evaluation of the child well-being and development especially in ecologically vulnerable hill areas. The paper examines socio-economic status of child bearing households in the hill district of Darjeeling District. The study relies on cross-sectional interview of households done in the district selected rural and urban regions. The data were collected about house composition, parental education, occupational structure, income levels, access to basic amenities, and health and nutritional status of children. Spatial and socio-economic differences among the hill blocks were analysed by use of descriptive statistics and comparative analysis. The results show that a substantial percentage of families rely on agricultural activities, tea garden labour and informal services, and their incomes are not well secured. Parental education, especially which of the mothers, is strongly related to school enrolment and school persistence among children. Poor housing conditions, housing access, and seasonal jobs also increase the socio-economic vulnerabilities. The paper highlights unremitting differences in lives and service access between households with children in the hill area. The findings reveal the significance of theoretical child-based welfare programs, better education infrastructure, diversification of livelihood as a way of bolstering the living standard and child welfare in the Darjeeling hills.