Gujarat BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 CommerceEconomicsPOPULATION3 Marks
Question
State and explain the social causes for high birth-rate.
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Answer
Social factors:
$1.$ Universality of marriage:
In India marriage is a religious ritual. The society doubts an unmarried person and raises various questions about his/her singlehood.
Many a times to escape from this, a man and a woman enter into the institution of marriage. Even disabled people are no exceptions.
The number of woman marrying in India is high compared to woman of developed countries. Marriages then lead to rise in birth of children.
$2.$ Early marriage and widow remarriage:
Despite laws banning child marriage still it happens in many parts of our country. Since they get married very early, their fertility rate is very high and lengthy. This results in the birth of more number of children.
India also follows a Widow Remarriage Act where in the widows are made to marry if they wish to. This also has resulted in high birth-rate.
$3.$ Preference for a male child: The Indian society is dominated by males.
Indians give more importance to sons than daughters for the following three reasons:
People believe that male child can make the family tree grow further.
People believe male child will support them financially during old age.
Due to these reasons people keep on trying for a male child unless they get one. This mad rush increases the family size and hence the birth-rate.
$4.$ Joint family system:
People in rural areas mainly live in joint families.
When a child is born the financial responsibility, as well as the responsibility of raising that child, is shared by all the members of the family. Hence, the child does not become a burden and so people do not hesitate to give births. This increases the overall birth-rate.
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