FERTILITY PATTERNS IN KERALA, INDIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF MODERNIZATION AND FAMILY PLANNING IN DETERMINING FERTILITY NORMS AND BEHAVIOR

Of the twenty two states in India, Kerala is one of the three which succeeded in reducing its average annual population growth rate during the last decade. In the 1971-81 period, Kerala experienced a 7.3% decrease in population growth. Since opportunities for international migration are minimal and since the death rate has remained quite low, the primary cause of the deceleration of its population growth is the decline in fertility.;Modern status, exemplified by young women and by women who married late, and early use of family planning are both significant characteristics of couples with small families. Family planning behavior, however, has a stronger influence in reducing fertility than does modern status. Yet, modernization indexed by younger cohorts, higher socioeconomic status of the family, higher age at marriage of the wife, fewer infant deaths, and joint conjugal role relationships is a significant correlate of early initiation of family planning. Though playing a predominantly indirect role through its effects on family planning, modernization has been a significant element in reducing fertility.;In short, these findings support the revisionist version of the Demographic Transition theory which upholds the concept of national or regional transitions. Fertility decline in Kerala has been attained in a manner different from that of the developed societies. Since modernization could not be achieved overnight, it was necessary, in the short run, to coordinate family planning programs so that birth control methods were readily available to couples. The natural experiment of this study which compared four areas representing different levels of modernization suggest that such programs were effective in modernizing family planning attitudes and behavior even in a rural area. Yet, the family planning program succeeded best in the most modern city, once again emphasizing the complementarity of modernization and family planning.;It is to the credit of the social programs of the government in Kerala that Kerala has controlled its population growth when its neighbors have failed.;This study, based on interview data collected in 1977 from a random sample of 540 women from two cities and two rural areas in Kerala, attempts to delineate the factors contributing to its lower fertility. The findings suggest one major conclusion: contrary to the modernization and family planning perspectives in fertility research, family planning practices and modern status are synergistic in explaining fertility differentials in Kerala.