changes in womens life and their struggle

 Women’s childhood, adulthood, and old age have all been transformed in India’s demographic journey

भारत की जनसांख्यिकीय यात्रा में महिलाओं का बचपन, वयस्कता और बुढ़ापा सभी बदल गए हैं

World Population Day (July 11) and change in womens life

World Population Day 2023 Theme

According to United Nations, the theme for this year’s World Population Day is – Unleashing the Power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities.

The passage of World Population Day (July 11) is also a time to look at how India’s demographic journey has changed the lives of its citizens, particularly its women.

१  India’s population 

grew from about 340 million at Independence to 1.4 billion.

 This growth was fuelled by 

• the gift of life that receding starvation, 
• improved public health, 
• and medical miracles / चमत्कार  brought to India. 

२ life expectancy 

In 1941, male life expectancy was about 56 years; only 50% of boys survived to age 28. 

Today, life expectancy for men is 69 years, and nearly 50% live to see the ripe old age of 75. 

३ Total Fertility Rate 

This rapid decline in mortality means no needed to have four children to ensure that at least two would survive,

 causing population growth until fertility decline caught up with the mortality decline, and the Total Fertility Rate fell from 5.7 in 1950 to 2.1 in 2019.

Change for Indian women

 at least one son  

1 As families began having fewer children, ensuring at least one son became more difficult. 

2 With four children, the chance of not having a son was barely 6%, but with two children, it grew to 25%. 

3 Social norms and patrilocal kinship patterns combined with lack of financial security reinforce a preference for sons. 

\4 The India Human Development Survey (IHDS) found that 85% of women respondents expected to rely on their sons for old age support, while only 11% expected support from their daughters. 

5 sex-selective abortion 

Hence, parents who want to ensure that they have at least one son among their one or two child family, resorted to sex-selective abortion, and, in some cases, the neglect of sick / fever  daughters.

 Consequently, the number of girls per 100 boys, ages under five dropped from 96 to 91 between 1950 and 2019.

6 number of years women spend caring for children under five  

With a fertility decline, active mothering occupies a smaller proportion of women’s lives, creating space for education and employment. 

Good data on this only goes back 30 years, but my research with Sojin Yu, based on the National Family Health Survey,

•  finds that the number of years women spend caring for children under five declined from 14 years in 1992-93 to eight in 2018-20; 
• the years spent caring for children ages six to 15 dropped from 20 to 14 years.

 7 While women’s educational attainment increased

 with over 70% of girls enrolling in secondary education, early marriage and childbearing remain the predominant forces defining women’s lives.

 

8 the average age at first birth 

 

As a recent article by Park, Hathi, Broussard, and Spears documents, the average age at first birth has hardly budged / change   about 20 for women born in the 1940s and still remains well below 22 years for those born in the 1980s.

 

9 labour force participation for women 

Early motherhood, perhaps, explains why lower fertility does not translate into higher labour force participation for women.

 Women need to establish secure connections to the labour market and gain work experience if they are to get skilled jobs.

 By the time peak childcare demands end, they have missed the window for occupations that require specific skills; only unskilled work is open to them.

10 women’s lives at older ages 

Demographic shifts also affect women’s lives at older ages. With rising life expectancy, 

the proportion of the female population  

aged 65 and above increased from 5% to 11% between 1950 and 2022, and is projected to reach 21% by 2050. 

 कितनी महिलाओं के पति  जीवित हैं ? 

Women generally marry men who are older and are more likely to outlive their husbands. 

The 2011 Census shows that while only 18% of men above age 65 are widowed, about 55% of the women are widowed.

 For widowed women, the lack of access to savings and property results in dependence on children, mainly sons, bringing the vicious cycle of son preference to full circle.

Harnessing gender dividend

1 Changing patriarchal norms 

may take a long time. 

2 Meanwhile, enhancing women’s access to employment

and assets will reduce their reliance on sons and could break the vicious cycle of gendered disadvantage, stretching from childhood to old age. 

Hence, any efforts at improving women’s labour force participation must be accompanied by access to safe and affordable childcare.

3 work participation of mothers 

 A World Bank evaluation based on a randomised controlled trial in Madhya Pradesh found that the expansion of Anganwadis to include a crèche / माता-पिता की अनुपस्थिति में शिशुओं की देखभाल का स्‍थान led to an increase in the work participation of mothers.

 

Arguably, the most striking example of the importance of childcare is documented in a study based in urban China by Du and Dong; it found that as state support for childcare declined, employment rates for mothers fell from 88% to 66%.

What are the practical strategies for enhancing childcare access? 

One relatively low-hanging fruit would be to make staffing crèche an acceptable form of work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

 At present, NREGS is being used to build physical infrastructure but there is no reason it cannot be used to develop social infrastructure where NREGS workers can help staff crèches.

 The burgeoning self-help group movement

 can be harnessed to set up neighbourhood child-care centres in urban and rural areas. 

source the hindu