Skip to main content

Economic Survey 2018: Indians go on producing children till they have sons

There may be a meta-preference manifesting itself in fertility-stopping rules, contingent on the sex of the last child, which notionally creates 'unwanted' girls, estimated at 21 mn, the Survey says
 Economic Survey 2018

The Economic Survey 2018 reveals that Indian parents, still keen to have more and more male children, continue producing “until they have the desired number of sons”. The survey calls this phenomenon the son meta-preference, which involves parents adopting "fertility-stopping rules”, or having children until the desired number of sons are born.

The country’s sex ratio, skewed in favour of males, has led to the identification of “missing” women. But there may be a meta-preference manifesting itself in fertility-stopping rules, contingent on the sex of the last child, which notionally creates “unwanted” girls, estimated at about 21 million, the Survey adds. “Consigning these odious categories to history soon should be society's objective,” notes the Survey.

Among the startling facts revealed by the Survey is that the sex ratio of last birth (females per 100 births) has come down by 40 basis points from 39.4 per cent in 2005-06 to 39 per cent in 2015-16. The Survey suggests that women making their own income has seen no change in 10 years between 2005-06 and 20015-16. Only 13 per cent more women are getting educated – up from 59.4 per cent 10 years ago, to 72.5 per cent now.

Another startling observation in the Survey is that fewer women are now involved in decisions related to contraception.

Also noted is the fact that women’s employment has declined over time. “Another such area is in the use of female contraception: nearly 47 per cent of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception. These outcomes can be disempowering, especially if they are the consequence of restrictions on reproductive agency”, noted the survey.

Poonam Mutreja from the Population Foundation of India (PFI), It is no surprise given that we are still focussing on sterilisation. Supply of care healthcare to provide sterilisation is dismal. It is ridiculous that we have not used 40 per cent of the budget for family planning remains unutilised. Making contraceptives available is very important and not yet available fully.

Read More : budget 2018

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best Unconventional Workout and Sporting Activities for Summer

In summers, depending upon conditions and circumstances one can incorporate both outdoor  and indoor activities in their training schedule.   Summer is the season of holidays, picnics, outings and beaches. With travel and binge eating proper workout becomes that much more essential in summers. But with heat and the sun outdoors, an individual has to balance his indoor and outdoor activities to get a fulfilling workout. In summers, depending upon conditions and circumstances one can incorporate both outdoor and indoor activities in their training schedule. Mentioned below are some of the best physical and sporting activities that one can use as a workout to stay fit in the summer season. Beach Sports - If in summers one is going to spend much time on beaches or at a beach destination then one may use beach sporting activities such as beach rugby, beach soccer, beach tennis and beach volleyball to stay fit. All of these sporting activities on sand provide a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crypto exchange Binance temporarily suspends payments from EU's key network

  Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will temporarily suspend euro bank deposits from one of Europe’s key payments networks, it said in an email sent to users (Reuters) -Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will temporarily suspend euro bank deposits from one of Europe’s key payments networks, it said in an email sent to users on Tuesday. The email said that from 8 a.m. universal coordinated time on Wednesday, customers would no longer be able to deposit funds through the Single Euro Payments Area, or SEPA, schemes. The move was due to “events beyond our control”, the exchange said in the email. “Any deposits attempted via SEPA in the meantime will be returned within 7 working days. SEPA withdrawals are unaffected by this suspension”, Binance said. The development was reported earlier by the Financial Times. The network, which is a European Union project that aims to harmonise euro payments across the region, allows consumers to send euros across three dozen countries. Binance typically ac...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘Farmers will get justice’, says member of SC panel on farm laws Ghanwat

  Included in the four-member committee set-up by the Supreme Court to hold talks with the farmers agitating over the new farm laws, Anil Ghanwat said that “protesting farmers will get justice” Included in the four-member committee set-up by the Supreme Court to hold talks with the farmers agitating over the new farm laws, Anil Ghanwat on Tuesday said that “protesting farmers will get justice.” The Supreme Court on January 12 stayed the implementation of three farm laws and tasked the committee of experts to listen to grievances of the farmers on the farm laws and the views of the government and submit its report to the court within two months. Anil Ghanwat, president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, a Maharashtra-based  farmer organisation  told ANI, “This movement should stop somewhere and a law should be made in the interest of farmers. First we need to listen to farmers, if they had some misconception about Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Agricultural Produce Market Commit...
Post a Comment
Read more