Context:

Every Year, 11th July is celebrated as the World Population Day.

• Theme (2023): “Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities”.
• It is now a time to look at how India’s demographic journey has changed the lives of its citizens, particularly its women.

Tectonic Shift in Numbers:

• Population Boom: India’s population grew from about 340 million at Independence to 1.4 billion. 
  • Reasons of Growth: This growth was fuelled by the receding starvation, improved public health, and medical miracles brought to India.
• 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.
  • 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. 
• Decline in Fertility Rate: This rapid decline in mortality resulted in fertility decline and the Total Fertility Rate fell from 5.7 in 1950 to 2.1 in 2019.

Transformations Observed: 

• Women’s childhood, adulthood, and old age have been transformed over the course of demographic transition, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.
  • Positive Transformation: 
    • Education & Employment: With a fertility decline, active mothering occupies a smaller proportion of women’s lives, creating space for education and employment.
  • Concerning Transformations: 
    • Son Preference: Social norms and patrilocal kinship patterns combined with lack of financial security reinforce a preference for sons. 
    • Sex-Selective Abortions: Parents who want to ensure that they have at least one son among their one or two child families, resort to sex-selective abortion, and, in some cases, the neglect of sick daughters.
      • Consequently, the number of girls per 100 boys, ages under five dropped from 96 to 91 between 1950 and 2019.

Challenges Faced by Women:

• Early Marriages & Childbearing: 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. 
• Need of Secure Connections for Skill Jobs: Women need to establish secure connections to the labor market and gain work experience if they are to get skilled jobs. 
• Miss the Window for Child Care Demands: 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.

Related National & International Studies:

• National Family Health Survey Data: 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.
• A recent article by Park, Hathi, Broussard and Spears Documents: The average age at first birth has hardly budged about 20 for women born in the 1940s and still remains well below 22 years for those born in the 1980s.
• A World Bank Evaluation: Found that the expansion of Anganwadis to include a crèche led to an increase in the work participation of mothers. 
• A study based in urban China by Du and Dong: Found that as state support for childcare declined, employment rates for mothers fell from 88% to 66%.

How Demographic Shifts Affect Women’s Lives at Older Ages?

• While the proportion of older men will also increase, aging for women has unique implications. 
• Outlived: 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.
• Dependency: 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.

Steps Taken by Indian Government for Women Empowerment:

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme, 2015: To prevent sex selective elimination, ensure survival and protection of the girl child, and promote their education and participation.
• One-Stop Centre Scheme, 2015: To Provide support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces. 
• Women Helpline Scheme, 2016: To establish a toll-free 24-hour telecom service for women affected by violence. Provide crisis and non-crisis intervention through referral to appropriate agencies and offer information about support services and government schemes available to affected women.
• UJJAWALA Scheme, 2016: To prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. 
  • Rescue and provide them with immediate and long-term rehabilitation services.
• Mahila E-Haat, 2016: To facilitate online entrepreneurship opportunities for women.
• Mahila Police Volunteers, 2016: To serve as a public-police interface to combat crimes against women. 
• Mahila Shakti Kendras, 2017: To create an enabling environment for women by providing access to healthcare, quality education, guidance, employment opportunities, etc. at the block and district level.
• SWADHAR Greh, 2018: To cater the primary needs of women in distress by providing shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment, care, legal aid, and guidance.

Steps Need to be Taken:

• Employment Participation: 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.
• Affordable Childcare: Early marriage and childbearing remain central to Indian women’s lives. Hence, any efforts at improving women’s labor force participation must be accompanied by access to safe and affordable childcare.
• Crèche Facility Availability: 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. 
• Self-Help Group Movement: The burgeoning self-help group movement can be harnessed to set up neighborhood child-care centers in urban and rural areas. 

Conclusion: 

Obtaining the much hoped for demographic dividend cannot be done without fully harnessing the gender dividend. Improving access to childcare is an important component of achieving the desired results.

News Source: The Hindu