World Bank’s Human Capital Index 2020

World Bank’s Human Capital Index 2020

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Human Resources

In news

• Recently, the World Bank released the Human Capital Index (HCI) report for 2020. 
• India has been ranked at the 116th position in the HCI 2020.
• Last year India was ranked 115 out of 157 countries. 
• India’s score increased to 0.49 in 2020 from 0.44 in 2018.

Key takeaways

• Parameters Used in HCI: Health and education data of children for 174 countries up to March 2020. 
• It covers 98% of the world’s population.
• The pandemic puts at risk the decade’s progress in building human capital, including the improvements in health, survival rates, school enrollment, and reduced stunting.
• More than 1 billion children have been out of school and could lose out, on average, half a year of schooling.
• It has created significant disruptions to essential health services for women and children, with many children missing out on crucial vaccinations.
• It has increased income inequality, its economic impact has been particularly deep for women and for the most disadvantaged families, leaving many vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty.