DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES
Before reviewing and analysing the educational development of women, it will be interesting and useful to draw the demo, graphic picture of women in India as compared to men, which accentuate inequality of sexes. Successive censuses in India have revealed that certain demographic features of the female popula- tion such as high rates of mortality and illiteracy and low rates of participation in labour force indicate a lower status of women. Although there has been improvement in all these features, still inequality in the demographic features continues to persist bet- ween men and women.
Female Mortality and Sex Ratios According to 1981 census, the total population of females was 330 millions, which is more than the total population of 220 millions of the U.S.A. and 267 millions of the U.S.S.R. Still, as compared to the male population in India it is only 935 females for every one thousand males. While the female popu- lation of India has increased from 117 millions in 1901 to 330 millions in 1981, the number of females per thousand men has been declining steadily. In 1901, there were 972 females for every one thousand males, while in 1981, the ratio has declined to 935 females per thousand males. According to, sex ratio by age-group it was found in 1971 census that it was lower than the national average for all ages in 10-19 age-group and again in. the 40-59 age-group. In the age-group 20-29, the number of women was slightly higher than that of men, particularly in the rural areas in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Among all the States in India, Kerala is the only State where the females out- number males in all censuses from 1921; it being 1034 per 1000
9
10
males in 1981 census. One of the rich States in India, Haryana, reported the lowest sex ratio among states (877). The other States with a noticeable lower sex ratio were Punjab (886), Uttar Pradesh (886), Arunachal Pradesh (870) and Sikkim (836) and in other States it was more than 900. Table 1 below gives the growth of female population in India from 1901-81:-
Table 1----Growth of female population in India 1901-81*
(Population in million)
Year Total Male Female Females per
population population population 1000 males
1901 238 121 117 972
1911 252 128 124 964
1921 251 128 123 955
1931 279 143 136 950
1941 319 164 155 945
1951 361 186 173 946
1961 439 226 213 941
1971 548 284 264 930
1981 684 353 331 935
*Source : Census Reports.
The plausible explanation which is generally accepted for this uneven sex ratio is that it is caused by higher mortality among females, both in infancy and in the child bearing age. While definite improvement has taken place in the expectation of life of women, it having increased from 26.6 Years in 1921- 31 to 45.6 in 1961-71, it continues to be less than that of men whose expectation of life at birth has improved to 47.1 years during this period. The respective ages of expectation of life at birth in 1981 are 51.6 for males and 49.7 for females. What is worse is that the gap between the expectation of life of males 11
and females has actually been increasing. At all ages below 40, the expectation of life for females is lower than that of males. Infant mortality rate is considerably high for women even in affluent states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Punjab. In rural areas of some states, the rate of Infant mortality of females is as high as 148 per thousand 1've births, as compared to 132 for males. The post neo-natal mortality rate is 72 per thousand for females, as compared to 59 per thousand for males. In the age-group 0-4, the male death rate in rural India is 58 per thousand, as against 70 per thousand in the case of females. Table 2 below indicates the expectation of life at birth from 1921 census to 1981 census:-
Table 2 -- Expectation of Life at Birth, 1921-81*
Decade Years
Male Female
1921 - 31 26.9 26.6
1931 - 41 32.1 31.4
1941 - 51 32.4 31.7
1951 - 61 41.9 40.6
1961 - 71 47.1 45.6
1971 - 81 51.6 49.7
*Source : Census Reports.
Child Marriage Although the censuses, as per definition, are silent on the issue of infant marriage, several cases of infant female marriages have come to notice. Although their incidence is on the decline, there is no doubt that early marriage and widow-hood still persist in rural areas.
According to the 1971 census, the mean-age of marriage of females in India was 17.2 years as compared to 22.2 years in case of males. Table 3 below gives a comparative picture of
12
the average age of marriage of males and females as reported in various censuses:-
Table 3-Mean age at Marriage ---- 1970-71*
Decade Males Females
1901 - 11 20.2 13.2
1911 - 21 20.5 13.6
1921 - 31 18.4 12.6
1931 - 41 20.2 15.0
1941 - 51 19.8 15.4
1951 - 61 21.4 16.1
1961 - 71 22.2 17.2
*Source : Cenus Reports.
The average age of marriage of females in rural areas was 16.7 years, as against 19.2 years in urban areas. The corres- ponding average ages of marriage for men in rural and urban areas were 21.6 and 24.3 respectively. Table 4 below shows the comparative picture of men and women in urban and rural areas:-
Table 4 - Mean age at Marriage, India 1961-71*
Area Males Females
Rural 21.6 16.7
Urban 24.3 19.2
Total 22.2 17.2
*Source : Census Reports--Based on 1% sample Survey.
Literacy In spite of great expansion of education in the country after Independence, the progress of literacy among women still present
13
a depressing picture. Although the rate of literacy among women has increased from 0.60 in 1901 census to 24.88 in 1981 census, this rate of increase is still far behind males in the coun- try, in whose case the corresponding increase was from 9.83 per cent in 1901 to 46.74 per cent in 1981. In some States like Bihar, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andhra Pradesh, the literacy rate was as low as 13.58, 11.32, 11.02, 14.42, 15.54, 16.75 and 20.52 per cent respectively. The situation in the other States, though relatively better, is in no way comparable to Kerala. Among the total female literates, 40 per cent were without any educational qualifications, 7.8 per cent were matri- culates and only 1.4 per cent were graduates according to 1971 census.
Table 5 below gives comparative picture of literacy rates between men and women:-
Table 5-Literacy percentage--1901-1981*
Year Persons Males Females
1901 5.35 9.83 0.60
1911 5.92 10.56 1.05
1921 7.16 12.21 1.81
1931 9.50 15.59 2.93
1941 16.10 24.90 7.30
1951 16.67 24.95 7.93
1961 24.02 34.44 12.95
1971 29.45 39.45 18.69
1981 36.17 46.74 24.88
*Source : Paper I--1981 Census.
14
Women in Labour Force According to the 1981 census the percentage of women workers to their total population is reported to have increased from 12.13 in 1971 to 14.44 in 1981, which position s better than males in whose case a slight fall in the work participation rate from 52.61 per cent in 1971 to 51.23 per cent in 1981 was reported. The increase of the female participation rate has occured in both rural and urban areas. Table 6 that follows gives the comparative picture of the work participation rate of males and females during the last three censuses.
15
Table 6. Work Participation Rates, 1961-1981
A-Main Workers*
1961 1971 1981
Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females
Total 33.09 52.61 12.13 33.44 51.23 14.44
Rural Not Available 34.04 53.62 13.44 34.77 52.21 16.49
Urban 29.34 48.82 6.68 29.17 48.18 7.57
B-Main and Marginal Workers
1961 1971 1981
Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females
Total 42.97 57.16 27.93 34.17 52.75 14.22 37.55 53.19 20.85
Rural 45.09 58.30 31.42 35.33 53.78 15.92 39.46 54.32 23.89
Urban 33.47 52.37 11.16 29.61 48.88 7.18 31.41 49.70 10.64
Source : Paper 3 of 1981 Census.
Note: Excludes data in respect of Assam and Jammu & Kashmir Which is not available.
*(i) The Main Workers are those who have worked for major parts of the year precceding the enumeration.
(ii) Marginal workers are those who have worked anytime at all in the year preceding the enumeration but have not
worked for the major part of the year.
16
The decline in the male, participation rate was reported by all States and Union Territories, except Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Manipur, West Bengal and Chandigarh. In case of females, except for the States of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh, participation rate is repor- ted to have increased in all States.
At the all-India level, the female work participation rate in- creased in 1981 by 2 points over what it was in 1971. The position of increase in female work participation rate among the major States from 1971 to 1981 was: Andhra Pradesh (24.16 to 27.87) Bihar (8.88 to 9.16), Gujarat (10.26 to 11.85), Haryana (2.41 to 4.82), Karnataka (14.20 to 19.23), Madhya Pradesh ( 18.65 to 22.63), Maharashtra (19.70 to 24.39), Orissa (6.81 to 10.88), Punjab, (1.18 to 3.09), Rajasthan (8.34 to 9.44), Tamil Nadu (15.09 to 22.57) and West Bengal (4.43 to 5.97). The rate has registered a fall between the two census years in Kerala (13.49 to 12.79) and Uttar Pradesh (6.71 to 6.02). The female work participation rate among the other States and Union Territories presents a pattern of both increases and decreases. It is interesting to note that in quite a few of the major States, the female work participation rates have registered an increase.