Supervisors:
Dr. A.K. Singh Department of Geography, SSJ Kumaun University Campus, Almora
Dr. P.K. Samal GBPIHED, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora
Summary:
Continuous increase in the population today is a serious global concern. In India, population growth has been realized as the major obstacle for the socio-economic development. It is a well known fact that the high population growth is a consequence of the substantial decline in mortality as against the moderate and high level of fertility. Therefore, control over fertility is very important not only because of its far-reaching implication on prosperity and overall growth of the nation, but also because of its impact on the freedom of young women to lead life of their own choice.
Status of women is one of the key factors that influence the supply and demand of children as well as fertility. Many studies have established the relation between status of women and fertility and reported that fertility is largely dependent on the social status of the women. Economic dependency of women on men also plays a significant role in determining the fertility behaviour and family size. Fertility regulation includes both contraception and induced abortion.
Studies
taken on status of women and fertility behaviour in Kumaun Himalaya is
scanty, rather non-existing. Further,
there is a total lack of empirical evidence on the mechanism through which
female status and role affect fertility. The role of various attributes
like religion, ethnicity, caste, place of birth, family type, educational
status, occupational status of the husband, occupational status of the
respondents, economic status, possession of durable households goods,
present age, age at marriage, duration of marriage, spousal age
difference, children even born, children surviving and desired, family
size, and finally altitudinal variation on the fertility behaviour of
women in the Kumaun Himalaya, is hardly known. Given these research gaps,
this research work sought to study the influence of the above stated
attributes on fertility, various dimensions of the status of women and
also to trace the mechanisms by which the status of women affects
fertility behaviour. Considering
the multiple hypotheses to be proved in different settings, i.e., rural
vis-a -vis urban and tribal vis-à-vis non-tribal, eight rural villages
and an urban town (i.e., Almora town) were sampled for study. The sample
villages and the town were purposely selected considering demographic,
socio-economic and cultural diversities.
Out
of the eight villages three are inhabited by a tribal community (i.e., the
Bhotia tribe) while the rest five are inhabited by caste Hindus. A total
181 respondents from the non-tribal (rural) respondents from various caste
communities and 48 tribal (rural) respondents were sampled from these
villages for study. As much as 357
respondents from different religious communities were sampled for study
from Almora town. In
total (including both rural and urban) 586 respondents were studied out of
which Hindus constituted about 66.04 per cent, Muslims constituted 17.59
per cent, Christians constituted 6.82 per cent, Sikhs 1.36 per cent and
the tribal constituted 8.19 per cent. Out of the total 387 Hindu
respondents, 128 were Brahmins, 122 were Rajputs and 137 were Scheduled
castes.
Major findings
Traditionally, the functional value of women in the study area is very high, as they share abundant responsibilities and perform wide spectrum of duties at and out of doors. In the study villages, like elsewhere in the Kumaun Himalaya, women constitute the life and blood of the economic as the agricultural system is absolutely dependent on women labour The women generally work more than 15 - 18 hours a day attending to agricultural system, cattle, collection of fuel, fodder and water in addition to the normal duties at home. The nature and intensity of work varies with the seasons but they are always on duty and at work. The multiplicity of the work performed by women depends on number of variables, which vary from place to place and household to household.
Factors
affecting / effecting fertility
§
A very
close relation between altitude and the fertility was observed, as
altitudinal variation significantly affected the fertility rate of the
respondents. The survey result showed the gradual decrease of fertility
with the increase in altitude.
§ Community was one of the important factor affecting the fertility behaviour of the respondents. The community wise fertility showed a clear distinction between tribal and non-tribal communities. Fertility rate was low in non-tribals in comparison to the tribals.
§ A clear-cut variation in fertility among the various communities was found in the study. The Muslim community followed by the Hindus showed higher fertility rates in comparison to other religious groups. The lowest fertility rate was found, as usual, in the Christian community. A very distinct variation in fertility was observed among the caste groups as fertility rate gradually decreased from higher to lower castes.
§
Place of birth (rural and urban) had a direct impact
on the fertility behavior of women, as distinct variation in status
affecting variables (SAVs) in the rural and urban areas were observed Type
of family, age at marriage of women, educational status of both
respondents and their husbands, economy and occupational pattern, spouses
age difference, etc. varied considerably in rural vs urban area.
Fertility was found higher among respondents in rural areas in
comparison to respondents in urban settlements. Family type and children
ever born
§
It was significant to found
that number and rate of total conception, total children ever born, and
total surviving children were recorded higher in nuclear family system in
comparison to joint family system. It
is totally different from the studies reported earlier in other ecosystem.
§ Education was found to be one of the most powerful indicators of fertility decline the level of education had a direct negative impact on the fertility rate of the respondents. The total conception rate, rates of children ever born and surviving decreased with the increase in literacy rate. Fertility rate also decreased gradually with the increase in the educational level of the husbands of the respondents. Higher education of the husbands negated the fertility.
§
Age at marriage of females was found as one of the best
indicators of status of women and variable to influence fertility. Lower
was the age at marriage higher was the rate of fertility.
§
Age difference between
husband and wife played a vital role in fertility. A positive relation
between higher age difference between spouses and fertility was observed
as the higher age difference between spouses was found to lead to higher
fertility.
§ Occupation of respondents was also one of the important variable, which influenced fertility behaviour. The fertility rate of women who were engaged in organized service sector was much lower than women otherwise engaged. The fertility rate was also found to be influenced by the type of occupation of husband. The conception rate was highest among the husbands engaged in agricultural sectors, while that for the husbands engaged in organized in service sector was lowest.
§ It was found that low income groups could not support higher education of their children, where as higher income group families supported for higher education for their children. A clear distinction in fertility among low and high income groups of the respondents was observed. The lower Income groups recorded a very high fertility rate in comparison to the higher income groups.
Contraception and fertility
§
It was found that
contraception measures played an effective role in reducing the fertility.
However. Among various contraception measures tubectomy was highly applied
followed by pills and condoms. It was, probably, due to the lack of
knowledge or cost effectiveness of using the contraception. The use of
‘today’ as contraception in controlling the birth rate was limited to
elites and higher income groups on account of its cost, which could not be
afforded by the poor people and also due to lack of knowledge.
§ Sources of information like television, radio, and health workers played important role in promoting the use of contraception.
§ Among different age groups, specific preference for type of contraception was observed. Out of total users of the condoms, it was highly preferred by the age group 20-14 followed by the age group 15-19. Further, tubectomy was highest among the respondents in the age group of 15-19. The respondents in the age group 15-19 preferred for pills followed by the age group 20-24. The respondents in the age group of 15-19 had specific liking for Cu-T while Today was more preferred by the age group 25-29.
§ Use of contraception was almost universal in all the economic groups, though it was comparatively little more in use in higher income groups. The universal use of contraception in all groups was, probably, because of the fact that television and radio, the two major sources of awareness of contraception, have become common household assets irrespective of family income.
§ The use of contraception in rural area was lower as 13.53 per cent of the rural respondents did not use any method of contraception against only 0.56 per cent in urban area. However, the types of use of contraception by the rural and the urban respondents showed great variation. Condom and Today were highly preferred by urbanites.
§
Religious beliefs, as found,
played a major role in the level of use and type of contraception. Use of
contraception among Christians was higher than the Hindus the Muslims.
Female sterilization was highly followed in order of tribals, Hindus,
Christians, and Muslims. A very high percentage of contraception users
among the Muslims were using temporary methods like condoms. In the use of
condoms the Muslims were followed by the Christians followed by the
Hindus. Among Bhotia tribal
groups and caste groups knowledge of permanent methods is more preferred,
particularly female sterilization method.
§
The family
structure also influenced the use of contraception. The use of
contraception among respondents in nuclear family was comparatively higher
(97.43%) in comparison to the joint family (89.88%). Condom and Today was more in use in nuclear families.
§
The level of contraception
use was higher among literates and was lower among illiterates and lowly
educated respondents. The different mode of contraception used among
couples of different educational background also varied widely. The
variation was due to the awareness, accessibility and the effect of
contraception in the family. For example the temporary contraception used
by males (condoms) and females (Today) were more among higher educational
background (such as graduate & postgraduate). The use of contraception
like Tubectomy and pills are higher among lower educational background
than that of highly educated couples.
§
The analysis of variables
affecting fertility behavior and women status clearly indicates that a
number of variables influence fertility; however, education and economy of
the spouses are highly significant. Other variables like caste, religion,
age at marriage, etc. of the respondents were found to be statistically
significant.
Fertility
in rural and urban setting
§
The place of birth of the respondent, i.e., rural and urban
setting, played a significant role on fertility.
The respondents in rural areas had higher fertility in comparison
to respondents from urban areas.
§
The
percentage of nuclear family was lesser in rural areas in comparison to
urban areas, and the family structure impacted fertility. However, in both
the ecosystems, the nuclear family recorded higher rate of fertility rate
than the joint family.
§ In rural areas, there was no significant variation in conception rate as well as children ever born among the three major caste communities, i.e., the Brahmins, Rajputs and Scheduled castes. But in urban areas, the conception rate as well as children ever born rate varied among the three communities. The fertility increased from lower castes to upper castes being minimum among Brahmins and maximum among the scheduled castes.
§
The age at marriage of the
respondents played an important role on fertility in rural vis-a-vis urban
area. It was mostly so as nearly 90.0 per cent of the respondents in rural
areas had married before the age of 20 against that of about 42.0 per cent
in urban areas.
§
Since about 44.10 per cent of
respondents in rural areas were illiterate against that of only 8.68 per
cent in urban areas, significant variation in fertility rate was found in
rural vis-à-vis urban areas. In
rural areas fertility rate was much higher while it was much lower in
urban areas.
-
As the men take most of the decisions regarding number of children to be raised, the educational level of husband played a decisive factor on fertility. Apart from more number of husbands in rural areas being illiterate in comparison to urban areas, they also fell in lower levels of literacy. Because of these factors, i.e., illiteracy and lower educational attainment, the fertility was much higher in rural area in comparison to that of urban areas.
§
The type
use of contraception in rural and urban varied widely mostly because of
levels of education and other socio-economic factors. The highly literate
and elite respondents from the urban areas had preferred for use of
condoms and Today while use of pills and terminal methods (tubectomy and
vasectomy) were more prevalent in rural areas.
§
Occupation of both respondent
and husband in organized service sector negated fertility. Since as less
as 1.30 per cent only of the rural respondents were engaged in organized
sector, fertility was much higher in rural areas in comparison to urban
areas where about 22.13 per cent were engaged in organized sector.
Role of women in decision making
The
status of women was found to be linked to education, and labour force
participation. Also, because of the differences in status affecting
variables in rural and urban areas, the role of women varied considerably
in decision making in rural vis-à-vis in urban areas. It was found that:
· Men mostly dominate in the decision on spending money. However, in urban areas more percentage of women participates in this decision.
-
In rural area men dominate in decision with respect buying of clothes for the household while it is just reverse in urban area.
-
Decision taken with respect of spending on money on child education is the domain of men in both rural and urban area.
-
Decision taken with respect of spending on money on health care is also the domain of men in both rural and urban area.
-
Women in rural area hardly participate in decision making process with respect of saving money while a more percentage of women in urban area participate in this decision making.
-
With respect of decision regarding the place to be visited in vacation is mostly taken by males, though more percentage of women in urban area participate in this decision making.
-
The decisions taken regarding purchase of permanent assets and household constructions are dominated my men both in rural and urban area.
-
The decision taken with respect of buying and selling of livestock is almost totally taken by women in rural area.
-
Decisions regarding family size and family planning are largely taken by men both in rural and urban area.
-
Decision regarding purchase of farm-related issues is totally taken by females in rural area.
Improving the status of women
The status of woman, a multi-dimensional and dynamic one, is determined by the relative prestige or honour she attains in the society and degree of freedom she enjoys in different aspects of her life; and also status of life of woman is invariably linked to her fertility behaviour. Fertility behaviour in turn is influenced by many a status affecting variables such as present age, age at marriage, educational attainment, work status, spousal age difference, family income, place of birth, occupation of the respondents, occupation of the husband, etc. Population growth and status of women in Kumaun Himalaya are interdependent; the latter is determined mainly by economy, social and cultural factors. As this study reveals, increased level of education of women can help increase their status, reduce the child mortality and, therefore, fertility behaviour of women.
Anubha Shah
Subject : GEOGRAPHY
Ph. D - Geography Kumaun University, Nainital
Correspondence Address:
, Dept. of Maths, SSJ Campus, Almora,Uttaranchal-263 601
Work Title