IB Geography HL - Case Study - Kerala, India

gender equality

Where is Kerala located?

In the South-west of India

What is the population of Kerala?

32 million

How has Kerala been able to control population size?

Government initiatives to improve, healthcare education and attitudes towards women

What percentage of women are literate in Kerala v in India?

85% v 50%

Why has infant mortality dropped?

Better educated women are more likely to keep their children healthy

Why has birth rate dropped?

Children are surviving, so families no longer have to have a couple of extra children to replace those that die

Who pays the dowry when a woman gets married?

groom’s family

How has the government aided the increase of adult education?

By providing adult literacy classes in towns and villages

How is adult education an anti-natalist policy?

Improved education comes with the understanding of smaller families

How is improved healthcare an anti-natalist policy?

vaccination programmes have led to a decrease in infant mortality so people no longer need to have as many children

How is higher age of marriage an anti-natalist policy?

Encouraging a higher age of marriage means families tend to be smaller as children are born later

What anti-natalist policies are used in Kerala?

• Women being educated

• Adult education

• Healthcare

• Higher age of marriage

• Maternity leave

• Retirement benefit

• Land reform

• Contraception

How is maternity leave used as an anti-natalist policy?

Maternity leave is only provided for the first 2 babies, therefore incentivising small families

How is retirement used as an anti-natalist policy?

Extra retirement benefit for those who have smaller families

How has land reform been used as an anti-natalist policy?

land was redistributed so that no one was landless. This meant no family was allowed more than 8ha and everyone could be self-sufficient. The relatively small land holding restricts family size

How is contraception used as an anti-natalist policy?

Contraception is more widely available

How has Kerala managed to control its population growth?

By investing in social changes while still allowing people the freedom to chose their own family size

What are the benefits of Kerala’s anti-natalist policy?

• Discrimination against women greatly increased in workplace education

• Hate crimes and violent crimes against women are likely to be reduced

• More percentage of population working which provides economic benefit

• More percentage of the population in education equals better quality of life

• Status of women improved overall

What are the issues with Kerala’s anti-natalist policy?

• Birth rate decreases too much which leads to ageing population issue

• Men may not agree - religious differences / cultures. Some see it as westernization

What is Kerala’s percentage growth per decade versus India’s average growth?

Kerala is 9.8% whilst India is 21.3%