Gender relations and education of girls in two Indian communities: Implications for decisions about childbearing

Abstract

Until recently, it was widely accepted that female education was a major determinant offertility change in developing countries.1-2 Today, there is growing evidence that this association is problematic. This paper is concerned with the mechanisms by which education does or does not impact gender relations and decisions about childbearing within the rural Indian household. Based on a comparison of two studies in India (one mainly quantitative and the other mainly qualitative) we argue that gender power relations are a factor of utmost importance in household decision-making. We show that in contemporary rural India, female education alone is not sufficient to substantially alter deeply entrenched gender ideologies that influence decisionmaking about childbearing and family size.

Thresholds of Morbidity among Women in a Peri-Urban Community of Maharashtra, India: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

“…Yet the manner in which these changes have influenced women's status and well-being is by no means straightforward. For example, a number of studies suggest that the relationship between better access to education and women's improved status is not evident in India (Jeffrey & Jeffrey, 1997;Kumar & Vlassoff, 1997;Vlassoff, 1996). Changes in age at marriage and more generally, changing expectations of marriage that remain unfulfilled, are a source of considerable tension and intergenerational stress among women (Ravindran, 1999;Singh, 1998).…”