Can Inter-Caste Marriages Reduce Economic Inequalities in Child Nutrition in India? Evidence from Triangulation of Cross-sectional and Panel Data Analyses

Can Inter-Caste Marriages Reduce Economic Inequalities in Child Nutrition in India? Evidence from Triangulation of Cross-sectional and Panel Data Analyses | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Can Inter-Caste Marriages Reduce Economic Inequalities in Child Nutrition in India? Evidence from Triangulation of Cross-sectional and Panel Data Analyses Rukmi Pradeep, Srinivas Goli This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5905062/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Endogamous marriages in India reflect a socially segregated society based on religion and caste, perpetuating the existing social stratification and inequalities. Caste endogamy contributes to the unequal transferring of social capital and social endowments, thereby reproducing inequalities within and across generations. In this background, the study examined the question of whether inter-caste marriages contribute to reducing economic inequality in children’s nutrition. We triangulated analyses based on pooled microdata and macro-panel data compiled from the National Family Health Survey (2005–2021). The Wagstaff’s corrected concentration index, panel data random effects regression models, and pooled cross-sectional probit regression model have been used. Findings suggest the continued prevalence of caste-based assortative sorting in the Indian marriage market and wealth-based inequalities in child nutritional status, thereby indicating both strong caste endogamy and health inequalities. However, an increase in inter-caste marriage is associated with declining inequalities in the child nutrition indicators: stunting, wasting, and underweight. The pathway is established through the reduced economic heterogeneity in populations owing to inter-caste marital arrangements and a greater possibility of exchange of resources. Thus, we advance that intermarriages lessen caste inequalities in child nutrition in India by narrowing group differences in socio-economic status. Inter-caste Marriages Same-caste Marriages Child Nutrition Inequality Assortative Sorting Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5905062","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":409278381,"identity":"43fa9edd-bfac-4e33-8686-94c3eb297a08","order_by":0,"name":"Rukmi Pradeep","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"International Institute for Population Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rukmi","middleName":"","lastName":"Pradeep","suffix":""},{"id":409278383,"identity":"5ed3fa63-92bd-4256-ab7c-cd78253092a4","order_by":1,"name":"Srinivas Goli","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFUlEQVRIie3Rv0rEMBzA8V8o6BLPNU55hRRBOpx29DUSusohuAiK5jhIlsNbCw73CvUNGgK6FGfd6nLzTdJB5Nr0FIW2ODrkO+QP6QfSFsDn+5chCdwtApmvGalnAMK/joYJkib9G/lhA7xdkqHn6L1V5Zs6ienpdGrH59GE6j3zUl4D3ZeBKjsIexaaCZWIh8JIe8bIBbOjJOKPEKY50qyLYKQILwIepsIRkQX4iPAdQBnUR10XmztyGzsS1WQ5a8gnxH0EioZcWrQkNQHWjDURCkQfYS15Ehk20szdu+DDSNyRJLV9F9tdHVTsKqZ6ZtfVx82ELorwtXofHy+0Xg1+bZa3M9/u2386GJW/ic/n8/m+2wCfaWH03MgWaAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"International Institute for Population Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Srinivas","middleName":"","lastName":"Goli","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-26 07:38:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5905062/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5905062/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":79274174,"identity":"44bd076b-bd10-483e-b710-acf7a80ce8e7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-26 11:53:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":678422,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CanIntercasteMarriagesreduceeconomicinequalitiesinchildnutritiondraft280120251.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5905062/v1_covered_33b1b2bd-683a-455b-80ba-35e7a49705a7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Can Inter-Caste Marriages Reduce Economic Inequalities in Child Nutrition in India? 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Caste endogamy contributes to the unequal transferring of social capital and social endowments, thereby reproducing inequalities within and across generations. In this background, the study examined the question of whether inter-caste marriages contribute to reducing economic inequality in children\u0026rsquo;s nutrition. We triangulated analyses based on pooled microdata and macro-panel data compiled from the National Family Health Survey (2005\u0026ndash;2021). The Wagstaff\u0026rsquo;s corrected concentration index, panel data random effects regression models, and pooled cross-sectional probit regression model have been used. Findings suggest the continued prevalence of caste-based assortative sorting in the Indian marriage market and wealth-based inequalities in child nutritional status, thereby indicating both strong caste endogamy and health inequalities. 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