REVIEW OF WLATED LITERATURE

Human fertility is a complex process responsible for the biological maintenance

of society. The levels of fertility vary across different societies. A high level of
fertility persists among the developing countries while it is low in the developed
countries. The unprecedented increase in the population of the developing countries
is causing much alarm in the world because of its threat to human survival in the long
run. The proportion of couples effectively planning their family size is low in most of
the developing countries. An understanding of the factors associated with high and
low fertility levels is indispensable to regulate the high fertility levels in the developing
countries. Knowledge of the determinants of fertility will help in effective
implementation of the programmes facilitating the promotion of small family norm,
thereby, achieving a proper balance between population growth, on the one hand, and
resources, on the other.

India is one of the developing countries experiencing high rate of natural

increase. Several studies on Indian fertility have been undertaken for a proper
understanding of fertility behaviour. However, most of these studies have been
confined to rural areas only (Dandekar, 1959; Saxena, 1965; Srinivasan, 1969; Wyon
and Gordon, 1971; Mahadevan, 1979).

An important piece of research in this field was the study conducted in Korea
by the Korean Institute for Research in Behavioural Sciences (Chung et al., 1972).
The study covered a wide spectrum of psychological factor's, including value
orientations, modernity attitudes, perception of environmental press, ideal family size,
son preference and attitude toward fertility control. The basic finding was that
psychological factors affect fertility and family planning behavour, which, in turn, are

affected by socio-demographic factors. The study confirmed that individual modernity

factors are more important than the basic personality variables in explaining fertility
behaviour.
 Fertility perforinance of a woman depends upon many factors like age at

marriage, infant mortality, sex composition of surviving children, economic status of

the family, religion and so on. Given the infant mortality, a high fertility leads to a

large family size. The relationship between family size and child work participation is

assumed to be direct among poor families. Parents belonging to the lower strata of the

society with large families are forced to send some of their chidlren t o work, because

the available resources do not allow thetn to send all their children to school. Only a

few children (generally male) of these families attend school and others work either to

support the expenses of their school going siblings or to keep away from idleness.

Studies directly dealing with two-child family are very scanty in India. Hence
the review of literature presented in this chapter covers investigations dealing with

psycho-social parameters having bearing on fertility such as value of children, son

preference, old age security, family size norms, child labour, value orientations,

perceptions about family size, child survival, parental aspirations about children, mass

media exposure, etc. besides other economic and demographic variables such as

education, occupation, economic status age at marriage, etc.

Value and cost of children:

A new field of research referred to as the value of chidlren to parents has

recently been developed in the theoretical writings and is being tested in a number of

empirical studies. This approach was based on Spengler's (1966) research on the

relation between costs and benefits of children and fertility, focusing on the needs of

parents that are llfilled by children (benefits) balanced against the costs (sacrifices)

entailed in having children. Whatever increases the costs of rearing children or reduces
the benefits of children operates to depress fertility and vice-versa. In othenvords,
family size orientations including achieved family size, ideal family size, and
contraceptive use are dependent on the costs and benefits of children to parents.

Children were considered as an attractive investment by Schultz (1973) who

reported that 'a child draws upon the resources when there is relatively plentifbl and
provides a return source of support in old age'. Similarly Caldwell (1976) emphasized
that investment in children is probably an investment in the real sense of the term for

educated children. When they are employed in the modcrn sector and have reached
their occupational heights, will in most cases return more money and remit it more
reguiarly. Favouring child investments, Detray (1972) argued that the capital markets
in developing countries are imperfect and child investments, in comparison with
alternative investments, yield the least negative return. Opposing this, Robinson
(1972), Chlin (1971), Mueller (197), Repetto (1976) opined that children are not a

good investment for old age. They pointed out that in low income countries older

rural males continue to work on the family farm and they may require little old age

support from their children.

Hoffman and Hoffman (1973) provided an appreciable theoretical rationale for

undertaking research in this field. In this model, the dimensions of the value of
children are viewed as a set of variables intervening between socio-demographic factors

and psychological and social orientations, on the one hand, and fertility and family

planning, on the other (Arnold et al., 1975). The interplay between the value of
children and family sine decisions was further summed up by Chung (1974).
 Children are economically valued not only for labour and income but also for

old age security to the parents. Numerous attitudinal surveys had revealed this. In

Nigeria as high as 95 per cent of the parents felt that children are important because

of the help they give to parents when they are old (Caldwell, 1976). The value of

children project by Arnold et al. (1975) had shown that most of the rural respondents

expect to rely on their chidlren when they are old. In Thailand, data on expected living

arrangements of parents in old age revealed that 84 per cent of the respondents

expected to live with chidlren in their old age (Arnold and Pejaranonda, 1977). An

analysis of the residential pattern of elderly persons in a NepaIese village sllowed that

most people lived with their sons and depend more on them rather than daughters.

Value of children was found to have a negative influence on the acceptance of

F.P. (Kondal Rao, 1992). Even among the acceptors, couples with wives in their

middle and late reproductive ages having four or more children, had gone for

sterilisation (Bhatia and Sreekantan, 1978). They observed that Muslims showed

greater apathy to family planning and it was not the low socio-economic status of

women that prevented the acceptance of sterilisation among them.

The study conducted (Reddy and Usha Rani, 1992) in south central India

showed that the economic and non-economic costs of rearing children had negative,

and economic and non-economic benefits had positive influence on the fertility

behaviour of the couples. The concept of value of children has assumed great

importance in the field of fertility research during 1970s all over the world.
So11 preference:

One reason for high levels of desired fertility is the importance of having sons

for economic, social arid religious reasons. The structure of the rural family and its

social atmosphere is a motivating factor for having large number of sons. Due to vely
strong value of son, most of the couples in rural areas produce more number of

unwanted daughters in the process of gettinng the desired number of sons.

There is a considerable literature showing that people have preferences about

the sex composition, as well as the size, of their fhture families. Williamson (1973),

summarizing data from many cross cultural studies, demonstrated that there is a

preference for male babies in virtually all societies around the world. In India, there

is a well-documented strong preference for male babies (May and Heer, 1968;

Pohlman, 1969; Mamdani, 1972). The strong preference for first male children among

American adults has been elaborted by the 1970 National Fertility Study (Dinitz et a].,

1964; Markel and Nam, 1971; Westoff and Rindfuss, 1974).

Chatterjee (1977) remarked that the birth of a male child enhances the prestige

of the family and parents may welcome an additional birth in the expectation that it will

be a male birth. Clave and Kiser (1951) stated that the prestige of a woman in a

family and among her relations depends considerably upon the number of male children

she bears. Accordinng to Bhatia (1978), parents do not stop having children unless

they have achieved a desirable sex ratio and unless they have ensured that atleast one

or two sons will survive to take care of them in their old age. In societies in which

women are more dependent on men, where they are excluded from mainstream of

economic activities, parents will place a greater premium on sons. The strong son
preference in India stems from a variety of social, economic and religious factors and
every family in India aspires for atleast one son (Mamdani, 1972).

Studies in rural Bangladesh by Khuda (1977, 1980) mention continuity of family

name, looking after in times of oldage and distress, and productive labour as the

reasons offered by respondents for son preference.

The prevailing 'economic value of children' was factor contributing to the high
levels of fertility in the country, according to Moni Nag el al. (1977). As reported by
Mathew (1975), "parents evaluation of children as the source of family strength and

economic anchor of the family and sons as the security against old age7' was the major

motive for desiring children. According to Nugent (1985), "old age security is likely
to be an important motive for fertility when the relevant parent is both uncertain about
hislher ability to be self-supporting in old age and dubious that there are other more
reliable or more effective means of such support than hidher own children".

Sex compositionn of living children was also systematically related to fertility

preferences and behaviour, with a higher number of sons at each family size associated

with higher percentge of women wanting no more children, a higher percentage

currently using contraception and lower subsequent fertility (Choudary et al,, 1993).

However, Gupta (1991) in a study of "Sex ratios in Rajasthan" found a

significant positive correlationn between tribal populations and sex ratio. Son

preference in tribal society was quiet weak and status of women was high. In contrast
the desert district of Rajasthan showed prevalence of female infanticide, especially

among the Rajputs.

Oldage security:

In traditional countries having no well developed system of social security,

children, particularly sons are the only hope of support for their parents in old age.

The available evidence in India on the pronatalist effect of oldage support motive is

mostly qualitative and indirect (U.N., 1961; Poffenberger and Poffenberger, 1973;

Khan, 1980). From these studies it appears that son preference is synonymous with

old age security motive. Mamdani (1972) maintains that "since daughters must always

marry outside the village, security for old age depends solely on the number of sons

a couple has".

In India, the parents who have learned from their culture to depend on children

for labour on the f m , for oldage security and for other essentials, desire large number

of children (Freedman, 1968).

Family size norms:

Family size norms - actual, desired or ideal - depend upon the type of family

and the social and cultural attitudes of the people. Gutman's (1954) study of college

men students indicated that the average number of children wanted was 2.6 while their

actual family size, after marriage was on an average, 1.6 children. Similarly

Indianapolis study also revealed fewer births for their respondents than they desired at

the time of marriage. Therefore, it is clear that the attitudes regarding family size may

often undergo changes as a result of desires of the spouse, changing economic and
social factors. The family size among Indianapolis couples in America was positively

related to the interest of having children. Gutman's study further suggested that most
traditional women were in the process of change to reduce their fertility to levels lower

than their desired family size. Also most of the white collar couples in the United

States completed their family size within 10 years of their marriage, expecting 2.4
children, on an average (Whelpton et al., 1954-1966).

Family can achieve happiness, thereby, improving its quality of life when they
restrict the number of children they feel they can rear adequately based on their

available resources-human and non-human. This discussion which the couple needs to

pursue to have a well planned family is based on several factors of biological, cultural

and socio-economic in origin. The ideal family size reflects the attitude towards the
family size as a part of a social learning proces that continues from childhoodd through

the years of parenthood. There exists a conflict about the advantages of different

family sizes. The value orientation may be attributed to religion, primary group ties

and affluence, the pride of accomplishment, fbn and happiness. These values are

considered as prima forces to have a large family, as observed by Wayatt (19601,

Mysore populationn study (1961), Caldwell (1967), Poffenberger and Poffenberger

(1972); Chung et al. (1974); Khan (1977) and Arnold et al. (1975).

In many developing countries there is a lot of variation between mean number

of children ever born and desired number. The mean desired family size steadily

increased with the age of the respondent because of higher levels of illiteracy and

ignorance in older cohorts. Accordingly the younger women desired a smaller number

of children e.g, in the Republic of Korea couples desired, on average, 2.8 children. In
the USSR, the average family size was 3.7 in 1970 as compared lo 4.1 in 1939. Rural
family size had decreased from 4.3 to 4.0 (1970) but there was no significant change
in urban families. Modern families in USSR were having only or two children. Half
of the families have one child whie 35 per cent had two child families and the
remaining had three or more children on the average (UN. 1973).

In India while analysing the data of 26 family planning attitude surveys in rural
and urban areas, Aganvala (1 965) found that four children werc considered ideal by
the rural people and three children by the urban people. Similar results were also
found by Mohanty (1968) and Bhende (1971). In a study in old Delhi area, Minkler

(1970) found that the ideal family size was 2.4 children with atleast one boy in teachers

group while it was 4.8 for the total sample. The ideal family size was 3.0 among
uneducated and 4.9 and 3.9 for mill workers and hospital workers, respectively.
However, positive relationship was found betwen ideal family size and the existing
number of children. In a recent all-India study, Mahadevan (1989) reported the

maximum expected family size norm, on average, as 5.1 in U.P., 3.5 in A.P. and 2.9

in Kerala. In a study of socio-psychological determinants of urban fertiity in

Hyderabad city, Reddy (1986) observed the mean ideal family size for the younger

(524 years) non-slum and slum dwellers as 2.40 and 3.34, respectively as against 2.98

for the non-slum dwellers and 3.87 for the slum dwellers in their late reproductive
ages.

Research with some bearing on psychosocial determinants of actual and ideal

family size has generally recognised the importance of the concept of modernity.

Freedman and his associates (1969, 1972) and Liu (1972) presented evidence
suggesting that Chinese husbands and wives holding traditional attitudes towards family

values (e.g, Wanting to live with their children in their old age and/or receive financial
support fiom them) tended to have and desire fewer children. Chen (1971) found that

"modern" mothers usually considered a smaller family size as ideal. Emotional and

motivational factors have been included as research variables in several studies of

fertility in Taiwan,

Mueller's (1972) study also considered motivational variables as determinants

of family size. One of the purposes to ascertain how Chinese fathers perceived the
economic costs and benefits of raising children, and how these perceptions influenced

their preferred number of children. It was found that more recent perceptions

regarding the utility and cost of children led Chinese couples to prefer a smaller

number of children and that husbands have conflicting or ambivalent attitudes toward

family size.

Another influential variable is religiosity. Data collected in Liu's (1972) study

on factors affecting family size revealed that religious couples preferred a larger ideal

family size than did non-religious couples. Family size desires may also be affected by

limited programes of family planning education in school. For example, Finnigan &

Liu (1971) conducted a beforetafter experiment to explore the effects of population

supplementary text book on students knowledge and attitudes in regarding to marriage,

fertility and population. They reported a positive change in ideal family size in the

desired direction.
 Some studies have also arrived at the conclusion that in India caste is a

proximate determinant of family planning practice especially in the rural areas (Reddy

1984; Badari, 1993). But, a multivariate analysis of Maharashtra data obtained in

1980, revealed that number of living children and number of sons are much more

closely associated with contraceptive use than education and caste (Srikantan et al.,

1992). Raju et al. (1994) using data from Karnataka and Sinha and Kanitkar (1994)

using data from Orissa, concluded that socio-economic development-related variables

are not important in explaining the differences in family planning acceptance especially

sterilization methods.

The influence of family size desire and sex preference to contraceptive use has

been highlighted by many studies conducted in different parts of India especially in the

rural areas. Koenig and Foo (1992), based on a study in rural Uttar Pradesh,

concluded that the patriarchal systems encouraged laarger family sizes by providing

special incentives among women for bearing a minimum number of sons. The

consequence is the sufficiently high reproductive goals as to postpone or preclude the

need for using contraception among couples. In Bihar and Rajasthan also, the impact

of number of surviving sons on contraceptive use rates was found to be one of the

highest (Kanitkar and Murthy, 1983). In south India, studies have shown that couples

prefer to have at least two sons and one daughter before initiating contraceptive use

(Rajaretnam and Deshpande, 1994b). However, in some parts of this region the

parents are inclined to stop aRer a certain number of children even if all are females

(Thiruvenkitaswamy, 1992).
Child iabour:

Children are valued primarily as a source of labour or income besides old age
security. Leibenstein (1957) postulated that family size desires depend on the
perception of relative economic benefits and the costs of chidren to parents.
Adikesavalu's study (1983) in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh showed that the
labour value of children is higher in the household-industrial sector as compared to the
agricultural sector. Mueller's study (1972) in Taiwan showed that only a few
Taiwanese husbands regarded the work-input of children as economically

advantageous. In another survey conducted to study the economic rationality of family

reproduction of a fishing community in Visakhapatnam, Murthy and Rao (1979)
observed a large proportion of children employed productively. They also obsetlicd
the fertiity rate of this community tending to be high. Mueller (1976) made an attempt

to estimate the actual net economic value of children in less developed countries.

Modernisation:

The modernised societies tend to have less fertility in coinparison to the

traditional societies as modernisation brings about change in the ways of thinking,

feeling and action of the people (Inkeles, 1966). Modernisation has been defined by

a variety of indices such as level of education, exposure to mass media, urban

residence, type of occupation, ownership of modern household articles, degree of

adherence to religion or cultural tradition.

Sreenivasan (1989) observed that modernization and family planning

programme may have opposite effect on fertility, Murthy (1989) found that income
was a powefil variable followed by educationn as determinants of fertility behaviour
in his study on "Agricultural modernizationn and fertility". The desire for quality of

life, high standard of living were found to influence family size as is true in Punjab

also. Modernized agricultural development has resulted in raised income levels and

standard of living. Gradual decrease in fertility occurred as the level of modernization

increased. Murthy has found a difference of 0.3 live births between developed and less

developed villages. FIe also observed that couples who were more modern

agriculturally generally had less fertility than those who were less modern.

Swaminathan (1992) found a strong and positive link between modernization and high

investment in quality child-rearing indicating the desire of parents to go for an increase

in quality of their children rather than the quantity of the children.

Demographic analyses have shown consistant relationship betwen modernization

and fertility in a number of ways: fertility changes associated with societal changes over

time (the demographic transition), fertility comparisons among groups with in a society

(urban-rural, illiterate-literate) and fertility comparisons among societies (industrialised

nations and developing nations), Generally, more advanced level of modernisation has

showed negative correlation with fertility.

Value orientations:
According to Kluckhohn (1950) a 'value orientation' was 'a generalised and

organised conception influencing behaviour, of nature, of man's place in it, of man's

relation to man, and of the desirable and non-desirable as they may relate to man-

environment and inter-human relations'. Two polar types of values namely, 'traditional'

and 'modern' were distinguished by Kahl (1968). According to Kahl, "traditional

values are compulsory in their force, sacred in their tone .... They call for fatalistic
acceptance of the world as it is .... Modern values are rational and secular, permit

choice, clari@ efficiencyand stress individual responsibility". Those who value mastery

over nature, the future, doing, individual responsibility tend to be characterized by low
fertility (Spengler, 1966). Beginning with the Indianapolis study of social and

psychological factors affecting fertility (Whelpton and Kiser, 1946; 1950; 1952; 1954;

1958) almost every investigation showed socio-economic status as the predoininant

determinant of variations in fertility. Clifford (1971) stated that "the complex of socio-

economic forces exert their influence on fertility through the determinationn and

reinforcement of certain value orientations".

Clifford (1971) in Kentucky found that the ideal, expected and deired family

siie norms and also proportion of unplanned live births to total live births were lower

for wives with modern value oreintations than for those with traditional values.

Similarly, Poston Jr. and Singelmann (1975), using a sample of 520 married Indian

males in the age group 21-35 with two or less children, found moderate support to the

hypothesis that a more modern response to attitudinal questions in the areas of

religious beliefs (man-nature orientation), marriage and divorce (relational orientation)

should be negatively associated with the number of children and of sons considered

ideal and positively associated with the use of family planning.

Studying the fertility and family planning behaviour of Korean women, Chung

et al. (1972) founnd that women with higher developmental scores (combining mastery,

achievement, individual and future orientationns) had significantly less fertility as

compared to those with lower scores. Dubey (1969) in the study on adoption of intra

uterine device (IUD)by middle class residents of New Delhi, also found that a higher
proportion of the acceptors of IUD were effort-oriented than fatalistic in their out

look. However, he observed no variation with regard to acceptance of IUD in relation

to beliefs about religion (man-nature orientation). It was suggested that the importance

of social and psychological variables lies in the extent to which they elucidate the

relationship between socio-economic status and fertility behavour (Fawcett, 1970).

Planning orient at'1011:

Planning orientation as an element of modernization figures in Kahl's, Inkeles'

and Smith and Inkeles' conceptualization and operationalisation of modern man or

modernism. According to Kahl (1968), the modern man is an activist, he believes in

making plans in advance for the important events and phases of his life, and has a sense

of security that can usually bring these plans to fruition. Inkeles (1966) insists, "the

more modem man is oriented towards, and involved in , planning and organizing and

believes in it as a way of handling life". It was noticed that those who observe

planning in different aspects of family life also show a tendency to plan their family size

(U.N. Asian Population Studies series No.16, 1974). In a study, Reddy (1986) found
that those who normally pIan for the quality of life are more likely to have low fertility.

George (1973) observed that "in underdeveloped countries where the idea of

family planning has not gained momentum and where people are fatalistic and do not

plan their future to any considerable extent, we can expect the correlations (between

family size ideal and actual family size) to be very low". Hill (1967) in Puerto Rico

observed that "the more the couples believe in planning in general, the less traditional

are their views, the more seriously they value small families, and the earlier they are

likely to have used birth control practices". Rainwater (1960) observation about the
planning orientation is quite revealinng as he points out that the lack of effective

contraception, "is embedded in particular personalities, world views, and ways of life

which have consistency and stability and which do not admit such foreign elements as

conscious planning and emotional laden contraceptives".

Faith in Man's efforts:

Faith in man's capacity to influence events including faith in predictability of

social order forms a part of the modernism theme. The belief that man can exert

control over his environment has been recognised as a significant variable for

differentiating traditional societies from modernized societies (Kluckhohn, 1950;

Kluckhohn and Strodbeck, 1961). In one way or another, all important studies of

modernism have obtained measures of people's beliefs about their personal capacity to

control what appears them as obverse of how much they feel controlled by luck,

supernatural beings and the like (Lerner, 1958; Inkeles, 1966; Back, 1967; Kahl, 1968;

Rogers, 1969).

Faith in man's efforts was considered as an important characteristic of modern

man by Inkeles (1966) and has been a focal point of measurement of individual

differences by Clifford (1971). Implicit in this faith in man's capacity to control events

is an assumption of faith in the calculability of the social order which has been termed
by Inkeles as "social calculability" (Inkeles, 1966). Faith in the calculability of the

social order also implies the obverse of what Rogers (1969) has termed as "situational

fatalism" which is a belief (often realistic) in the limited opportuunities for improvement

of conditions. Social calculability and faith in one's capacity to contol the outcome of

events have been termed by Groat and Neal (1967) as positive judgements on
normative matters and sense of mastery over events, the opposite of which are
normlessness and powerlessness. According to them ".... for those high in

powerlessness, fertility seems likely to constitute an occurrence, a chance happening,

an unmanaged event" (Groat and Ncal, 1967).

Inter-spouse communication:

Communication is an important area, particularly in the field of family planning,

because it has been used as one of the primary means of promoting family planning in

developing world (Bertrand et al., 1982). The effective interpersonal communication

may bring changes in the attitude and behaviour of the individuals by means of
education and motivation. Hence interspouse communication is vital in promoting the
contraceptive practice.

Studies have shown that interpersonal communication has encouraged

contraceptive use and influenced fertility in India and other countries (ORG, 1972; Hill,

Stycos and Back, 1959; Bertrand et al., 1982). Mahadevan (1979), Shivaraju (1987)
and Sai Sujatha and Murthy (1993) reported positive relationship between husband and

wife communication and use of F.P. methods and a concomitant negative relationship

between interspousal ~ommunicationand desired fertility.

The U.N. (1974) conducted a survey on l~usbandand wife communication and

the practice of family planning in four Asian countries, viz., India, Iran, Philippines and

Singapore. The study reported that fertility decision making in India by parents and-in-

laws was 23.9 per cent and 36.9 per cent for urban and rural areas respectively,

husbands themselves 65.3 per cent in urban and 55.0 per cent in rural, and wife and
husband together 9.5 per cent in urban and 6.8 per cent in rural areas. On family

planning awareness the study stated that more than 85 per cent had heard about family

planning in all the four countries. Majority had heard from neighbours and friends in

India (57.4%), Iran (53.2%) and in the case of Singapore, it was from relatives and

social workers (24.6%). Also the first source of information was health and family

planning workers for 15.9 per cnet in India, 5.7 per cent in Iran, 19.4 per cent in

Philippines and 23.1 per cent in Singapore.

Husband-wife communication and decision making in the family were shown

to be influential variablcs in explaining effective family limitation (Mitchell, 1972a,

1972b, Chung, 1973). Women who frequently discussed different matters with their

husbands were found to have a more favourable attitude toward birth control than

women who seldom had discussions with their husbands. The former were also more

likely to practice birth control and early in marital life.

Infant and child mortality:

The incidence of infant and child mortality is believed to exert a heavy influence

on completed family size. It is expected that all communities with higher rates of infant

and child mortality have high fertility to ensure the survival of at least some of the

children born to them. The high fertility of developinng countries is primarily due to

their prevalent high levels of infant and child mortality. Several micro-level studies also

confirm the heavy influence of infant and child mortality on completed family size.

Bacon and Mason (1972) eom a sample survey conducted in 1966 in Ankara, Turkey,

reported that "those couples who have experienced an infant death have and also

expect more children than do couples without such experience, even after controlling
for socio-economic differences and duration of marriage". Studying currently married

women in Kerala, Subhadra Devi (1978) also observed a linear positive relationship

between infant and child mortality, on the one hand, and fertility, on the other.

Mahadevan et al. (1981) in a survey conducted in rural Andhra Pradesh, noticed a

direct positive relationship between the number of infant and child deaths and fertility,

uniformly, in all the three cultural groups studied by them, viz., Muslims, Harijans and

caste Hindus. Reddy (1984) studying fertility and family planning in a metropolitan

city Hyderabad, south India, had observed significantly higher fertility among slum

dwellers primarily due to the high infant and child mortality experienced by them. A

linear positive relationship was observed between personal experience of infant and

child mortality, on the one hand, and fertility, on the other.

Rutstein (19711, in a survey conducted in 1969, collected data to explore the

effects of experience with and fear of child mortality on fertility. Experiencing child

mortality led to a higher probability of additional births at each birth order and that

fear of child mortality had a small positive effect on the probability of an additional

birth at each birth order.

Religion & Caste and Fertility:

Religion has always been an important factor in the cultural life of the Indians.

Among the socio-cultural factors iduencing fertility, religion has been considered very

important since it prescribes a code of life, refers to a system of beliefs, attitudes and
practices which individuals share in groups and through this orientation towards life

affects one's fertility behaviour.

In India, religion is powerful conditioning all important actions in life including

fertility behaviour. Fertility is lower among Hindu women than Muslim women

(Stackle, J. & Choudary, 1969; Amin et al., 1989; Ubaidullah, 1986; Nag, 1982).

Fertility is the highest among Muslims followed by Catholics and Jews (Nag, 1981).

In south Asia, it is found that Hindus have lower fertiity compared to Muslims.

Researchers support that Islam has non-supportive attitude towards fertility control

(Ubaidur Rao, 1992).

Reddy (1987) in a study of effect of consanguinous marriages on fertility in

A.P. found most of the marriages in certain castes were consanguinous and more fertile

than the non-consanguinous marriages, among certainn castes like Devanga, mala, etc.,

Further, higher caste persons and wealthier persons in each caste are more likely to
marry relaf,ives, in order to avoid subdivision of property through dowry, Hindu castes
are mostly endogamous groups. Better socio-economic condition of upper castes

facilitates higher education, increased age at marraige, and low fertiity compared to
low literacy, low age at marriage, higher fertility among lower castes particularly in
rural areas.

Even among the upper castes, the socio-economic development and

modernization influence fertility behaviour negatively compared to the same castes
which are orthodox, traditional families which show a higher fertility as observed by
Sai Sujatha (1 993) in a study of two bramhin sects.

Education:
Education has potentially negative influence on the reproductive rate, firstly

because education develops opportunities which conflict with child bearing and rearing
and secondly because of the change in values or knowledge of women. Education may

help people adopt to modern society and teach them to cope rationally with the

environment, to become less fatalistic and to plan more in all aspects of their lives. It

may increase aspirations for self and children, which can only be achieved through
limiting family size.

Mahadevan & Sumangala (1987) reported that higher education is one of the
important factors of low fertility in India. Zachariah (1995) explained that fertility

decline in Kerala was due to an increase in economic value of education, a

consequence of land reforms and other socio-economic consequences. Education

generally exerts a negative influence on fertility, the strength of the association was

nevertheless found to be contingent on the level of economic development, social

structure and cultural mileu (Castro, 1995).

Education has been founnd to be the strongest inverse correlate of the crude
birth rate in macro-level socio-economic regressions and maternal education has been

found to be a strong predictor of family size at micro-level (Westoff and Ryder, 1977;

Freedman, 1973; Michael, 1980). Many studies revealed the strong inverse relationship
between education and fertility (Stycos, 1968; Minkles, 1970; Mahadevan, 1979;

Mitchel, 1972; Audikesavulu, 1983; Reddy, 1982; Usha Rani, 1983; Dinesh, 1988).

According to Preston (1978) education is said to increase knowledge and

motivate people to regulate fertility effectively, to raise parental aspiration for better

standard of living and to break down traditional values of large family size. Studies

conducted in various parts of India show that education has some impact on reducing

fertility (Jain, 1975).

In Dharwar survey, Jorapur (1967) found an inverse relationship between

education and fertility in the urban areas of Dhanvar. A study in a rural family

planning project, Allahabad, revealed that the fertility performance of the couple has

negative association with the education of the husbands i.e., the marital fertility rates

per 1000 married women were 329,319,239, amongst the illiterates, just literates and

educated upto college level (Gupta et al., 1975). The Commission on Population

Growth and the American Future also proclaimed in 1972 that "there is abundant

evidence that higher educational attainment is associated with smaller families in U.S.

(U.S.Commission, 1972).

A number of social, economic, demographic and cultural factors, besides

programme factors, contribute to the level of contraceptive use rates. By analysing
district level data on the family planning acceptors in India, Jolly (1986) found that
among different socio-economic variables, female literacy was shown to have had the
largest impact on family planning acceptance. Similarly, based on multiple regression
analysis of family planning statistics at state level, Shariff (1989) concluded that
substantial improvements in education and decentralisation of the family planning
strategy are a few interventions to increase contraceptive use rates. The education of
women is found to be one of the most important factors in many other countries as
well. Ullah and Chakraborthy (1993) found in Bangladesh that women with secondary
education are almost three times as likely to practice contraception as those who had
no education. Thc World Fertility Survey which was conducted in a number of

developing coutrtries also found that education is closely associated with contraceptive
use at national level (International Statistical Institute, Voorburg, 1984). However,
Visaria (1993) found in Gujarat that the relationship betwen education and
contraceptive use was weak when controlled for the number of living children.
Therefore, it may be concluded that a negative association exists between fertility and
educational level of the couples in getleral. Hence, education is considered in this
study also as a determinant of two-child family.

Occupation :
Occupation is an important variable which influences fertility in various ways
(Mahadevan 1972, U.N. 1961; Srivastava, 1979). Fertility is not uniform across
different occupations. It varies from one occupation to anothcr because different
occupations create different socio-economic environments. Occupation, especially of
the husband, has been most widely considered in the study of fertility differentials
especially in developinng countries, Husband's occupation is not only an indicator of
a family's financial resources, but it also places the family into a social group that
shares common attitudes and access to information.

Many studies revealed that higher fertility is asociated with primary scctor,
particularly agriculture and mining, while lower rates of fertility have been assoicated
with the professional classes, white collar workers and urban industrial workers, A
report of the United Nations Department of Economic and social Wairs (1981)
illustrated the fertility differences among husbands following various occupations
namely professional and clerical, sales and service, agriculture, skilled and unskilled
occupations in different countries. For example, the mean number of children ever
born to agricultural categories was 4.4 in Fijji and Pakistan, 4.3 in Thailand and Sri
Lanka whereas in case of professionals and clerical categories it was 3.2 in Fijji, 3.9
in Pakistan, 2.9 in Tailand and 3.0 in Sri Lanka.

In India, some studies investigated the relationship between the occupation of

the husband and fertility. In a rural community of Kerala state, George (1976) found
that the high ranking officials had lower fertility whcn compared to other classes,
namely unskilled, semi-skilled and landlords. Saxena (1965), in his survey in rural U.P.,
observed an inverse relationship between occupational status of husband and fertility.
In a study of rural areas near Delhi, Agarwala (1970) found 7.4 children for cultivators
and labourers while those who were in service and in professions had only 6.6 children.
A survey conducted in 1970 in Dehi @esai, 1970) found that the total fertility rate was
inversely related to the position of the husband's occupation in the status hierarchy.
The total fertility rate was 6.7 for unskilled workers, 5.6 for petty shop keepers, 5.0
for clerical workers, 4.5 for lower professional workers, and 3.3 for senior
professionals and executives.

Ferll~leoccupntion and fertility:

Fenkale employment influences the proximate determinants of fertility. Age at
marriage, lactational infecundability and contraception are affected by female labour
force participation. Agricultural labourers tend to have higher fertiity and low birth
interval because of less fkequency of breast feeding due to the separation of infant from
the mother for longer hours than the other non-agricultural occupations. Family size
desires depend upon the relative utilisation of the economic benefits and the cost of
children to parents, wherein children are regarded as a source of income besides oldage
security (Naidu, 1983).

Participation of women in the labour force may have an impact on family size
and family size desires. Research has demonstrated that in Hong Kong there is
virtually no difference both in actual family size and family desires between women
who were employed outside the home and those who were not (Choi & Chan, 1973;
Chung, 1973). However, when families with women employed fulltime were compared
with families having women employed part-time or not employed at all, then a distinct
difference was seen. Woinen who work full-time outside of the home tend to have a
desire for fewer children than those who work part time or those who do not work
outside of the home. This finding holds true for all age groups.

Swarnalatha (1990), in her study on 'Status of women and fertility in A.P.'

found that working women had lower fertility compared to non-working women and
among working women fertility had declined with increase in occupational status.

Economic Status :
Income is an important variable affecting fertility. Income tends to be negatively
associated with fertility. Increases in living standards beginning from low levels of
income result in rapid fertility declines, whereas at higher levels there may be little
change in fertility and possibly some increases.

The effect of income growth on birth rate depends on who gets the income;
that is, it is the distribution of income that matters (Simmons, 1975). Generally because
of economic and social development, a suitable climate for the reduction in fertility is
created. Hawthorn (1970) opined that, in general fertility varied inversely with income.
But some of the other studies showed direct and inconsistent relationship between
economic status and fertility behaviour. Mueller (1971) concluded that economic
considerations do have a significant bearing on fertility decisions, since the parents
views regarding the family size were affected by rising income. However, Simmons
(1976) and Ridker (1976) reported that 'income itself can have a direct relationship to
fertility' has been difficult to test. A recent well documented analysis of the relationship
between income distribution and fertility places the argument on some what more
secure ground (Repetto, 1976).

In the three rounds of the NSS (1954-60, 1960-61, 1961-62) and also in the
studies on fertility and family planning in greater Bombay (1966) and fertility
differentials in India conducted by the Registrar General (1976), the traditional inverse
relationship between income and fertility was observed. All the studies point out that
as the per capita expenditure increases the fertility rate goes down. Thus, an inverse
relationship between income and fertility has been confirmed. Saksena (1973), in
Lucknow survey, observed definite inverse relationship between general marital fertility
rate (GMFR) and husband's monthly income.

In India there are certain studies which have shown positive relationship
between economic status and fertility. Mahadevan (1 979) found positive relationship
of economic status with fertility in all the three caste groups with a slight decIine in the
higher income group in his rural study of Tamil Nadu. Hence, inconsistent findings are
noted with regard to the effect of income on fertility.

Age at marriage:
Age at marriage plays an important role in the decline of fertility. The
relationship between age at marriage and fertility varied according to marriage pattern,
extent of increase in age at marriage, life cycle, and practice and attitude towards
premarital sex and one's socio-economic position. Assuming these factors are
constant, raising the age at marriage may have significant effect on fertility. Nayar
(1974) reported that raising the age at marriage contributes to fertility decline. The
increase in age at marriage in Ceylon has confirmed its depressing effect on fertility.
In 1971 census of Sri Lanka, only 10 per cent of the women aged 15-19, 46 per cent
of those aged 20-24 and 75 per cent aged 25-29 were married (Chaudhary, 1982).
This change in age at marriage wais partly responsible for the significant decline in
crude birlh rate of Sri Lanka from 40 per thousand in 1950, to 27 in 1975
(Immennawar, 1977). Higher educational attainment of women and expanded
opportunities for employment, raising age at marriage contribute to lower fertility, as
the duration get women exposed to risk of the pregnancy is reduced (Nayomi & Ann,
1991).

The findings of the studies reviewed here have formed the basis for developing
an interview schedule required for collection of data for the study on 'Two-child
Family'.