Premature Mortality and Poverty in India

ABSTRACT

Impoverished individuals encounter more adverse survival conditions compared to their wealthier counterparts. It is thus reasonable to anticipate that a more pronounced income–mortality gradient results in a stronger income‐based selection process, leading to a reduced poverty rate among the elderly. This is referred to as the “missing poor hypothesis,” which we empirically test in the Indian context using district‐level NFHS 4 (2015–2016) and NFHS 5 (2019–2021) data on poverty among individuals aged 50+ and 70+, as well as life expectancy by wealth levels. Our results are also robust to some alternative specifications of our independent variables and use of IVs.