Fertility, Dimensions of Patriarchy, and Development in India

Abstract

This study examines the relative importance of the marriage system the means of active discrimination against women and womens economic value in a patriarchal system in affecting the total fertility rate (TFR) for 358 districts in India. Data were obtained from the Development District Database from the 1981 Census of India. TFR was adjusted for undercounts based on the methods of Bhat Preston and Dyson. Regional diversity in fertility was expected to vary with levels of economic and social development and gender biases in kinship structure. Women in the south and to some extent in the east were better off and had greater female autonomy. Womens status measures reveal that female sex ratios of mortality exceeded 1.00 in over 60% of districts and that over 50% of girls were married at 15-19 years in over 50% of districts. Literacy and labor force participation approach equity in only 6% of districts. In general the north-south pattern of womens status and TFR held. However some hill districts of the north had lower female sex ratios of child mortality and some south districts had a prevalence of early marriage. Womens status was more favorable in coastal areas. The 6 indicators did not mesh exactly geographically. The best fitting models included measures of social development and gender discrimination. Because of multicollinearity problems only 2 patriarchy measures were found to be statistically significant. In the full model the sex ratio of child mortality and female labor force had the most significant effects on fertility. Social measures of child mortality and literacy also have strong impacts on fertility. The proportion landless was the only social stratification factor that was significant and negative. Residence in the south and east had a negative impact. Patriarchy had a major influence on TFR by district was multidimensional and overlapped with other structural factors. Some patriarchy measures were virtually substitutable and others were independent.