Abstract: A water-absorbent resin that can reduce the amount of backflow of an absorbed liquid even when the water-absorbent resin is used at a low content in an absorbent material is provided. An absorbent article comprising an absorbent material containing the resin is also provided. The resin is a crosslinked polymer of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer and has a dry-up index of 1.85 or more, as represented by equation (1): dry-up index=overall absorption capacity term ?×water absorption rate term ???(1) where the overall absorption capacity term ? and the water absorption rate term ? are determined according to equations (2) and (3): overall ? ? absorption ? ? capacity ? ? term ? ? ? = ( physiological ? ? saline ? ? absorption ? capacity ? ? under ? ? a ? ? load ? ? of ? ? 2.07 ? ? kPa - physiological ? ? saline ? ? absorption ? capacity ? ? under ? ? a ? ? load ? ? of ? ? 4.