Progress and Stagnation: Changes in Fertility and Women's Position in an Indian Village

This paper compares women's status, fertility, and contraceptive use in 1975 and 1987 among married women aged 15–26 in a Maharashtra village. Changes in women's position over the 12 years were both positive and negative. Although education and age at marriage had increased, the 1987 cohort was more conservative in many respects. Fertility appeared to be declining, and women were increasingly completing their families quickly and then undergoing sterilization. However, the decline in fertility goals was not primarily due to changes in women's status but to the active sterilization campaign in the community. The one constraint on fertility limitation was the need for sons, and in this some indicators of women's status – education, age at marriage and distance from the women's natal home – made a significant difference. The finding that women's autonomy seemed to be related to ‘marriage distance’ deserves further study, particularly in South Asia and other patrilocal societies.