Demographic Transition and Change in Women’s Lives
Context:
- On July 11, World Population Day offers a chance to consider how India’s population shift has influenced its citizens’ lives, especially those of its women.
Data in statistics:
- India’s population has grown from 340 million people at the time of independence to 1.4 billion people presently.
- In 1941, the average life expectancy for men was 56 years, but only 50% of boys reached the age of 28.
- Men today live an average of 69 years, and over 50% of them live to be ripe old age of 75.
- The significant drop in mortality caught parents off guard because it meant that they no longer needed four kids to ensure that at least two would live. The population increased as a result of this unanticipated change in mortality, but then the reduction in fertility overtook the decline in mortality, and the total fertility rate fell from 5.7 in 1950 to 2.1 in 2019.
- Women’s youth, adulthood, and old age have changed as a result of demographic shift, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
A change for Indian women:
- As families started having fewer children, it became more difficult to guarantee at least one son.
- With four children, there was only a 6% chance of not having a son, but with two, the chance rose to 25%.
- Social norms, a lack of financial security, and patrilocal kinship patterns all contribute to the preference for sons.
- Only 11% of women surveyed in the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) believed their daughters would care for them in old age, compared to 85% who believed their sons would.
- Therefore, sex-selective abortion was used by parents who wanted to have at least one male in their family of one or two children and, in some circumstances, neglected their daughters who were ill.
- As a result, between 1950 and 2019, there were 91 fewer boys than girls in this age group.
- When fertility drops, active mothering takes up less of a woman’s life, freeing up time for jobs and study.
- Over 70% of females are now enrolled in secondary education, despite the fact that early marriage and motherhood still have the greatest influence on women’s lives.
- Why decreased fertility does not lead to higher female labour market participation may be explained by early motherhood.
- Women need to build solid working relationships in the labour market and gain experience if they wish to obtain skilled employment.
- They are only qualified for unskilled employment and miss the chance to apply for positions that require specialised skills when childcare demand is at its highest.
Ageing female health:
- Women’s lives are impacted by demographic shifts at later ages as well.
- The proportion of women 65 and older increased from 5% to 11% between 1950 and 2022 as a result of greater life expectancies, and is predicted to reach 21% by 2050.
- The percentage of elderly men will also increase, although ageing has different effects on women.
- Typically, women marry older men who are more likely to outlive them. Only 18% of men over 65 who responded to the 2011 Census reported being widowed, compared to around 55% of women.
- Widowed mothers depend on their children, especially their sons, because they lack access to funds and property, which completes the cycle of son preference.
Making use of the gender dividend:
- Changing patriarchal customs might take time. Increasing women’s access to resources and employment will reduce their reliance on boys and potentially put a stop to the perpetuating of the gendered disadvantage that women experience from early life into old age.
- However, childbearing and young marriage still play important roles in the lives of Indian women. Therefore, access to high-quality, affordable childcare must be part of any initiatives to promote women’s labour market participation.
- According to a World Bank assessment based on a randomised controlled experiment in Madhya Pradesh, the expansion of Anganwadis to include a crèche enhanced mothers’ employment involvement.
Moving forward:
- The best course of action would be to include staffing childcare facilities as an eligible type of job under the National Rural job Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
- The expanding self-help group movement can be used to start neighbourhood child care centres in both urban and rural areas.
- The long-awaited demographic dividend cannot be realised without adequately utilising the gender dividend.
- Access to childcare must be improved as a first step in this direction.
