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标题：Son Preference and Desired Family Size in a Rural Community of West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India
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作者：G.R. Varma ; B.V. Babu
期刊名称：Journal of Social Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0971-8923
出版年度：2007
卷号：15
期号：1
页码：59-64
出版社：Kamla-Raj Enterprises, Delhi
摘要：In the present study, the desired family size and preference for son and their socio-economic and demographic determinants were studied among rural populations of West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The data were collected from 214 respondents from the rural area of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. The mean desirable number of children is 2.5. More than half of the respondents desired to have only two children and only 3% of male respondents desired to have one child. The data also showed that more than half of the respondents opted for at least one son. With regard to the choice of first child, majority of men (70%) are in favour of son as their first child and only 2% desired to have daughter as their first child. Among women respondents, these figures are 55% and 2.5%, respectively. These parameters are associated with some of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the respondents. The study concludes the existence of son preference, which is undesired fertility behaviour among this population. Also the study warrants checking the possible gender bias in child health programmes. Address for correspondence: Dr. B.V. Babu, Assistant Director (Social Sciences), Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research SE Rly. Project Complex (post) Bhubaneswar-751 023, India Phones: +91 674 2303002 (office), 2301310 (home) Fax: +91 674 2301351 E-mail: [email protected] var currentpos,timer; function initialize() { timer=setInterval("scrollwindow()",10);} function sc(){clearInterval(timer); }function scrollwindow() { currentpos=document.body.scrollTop; window.scroll(0,++currentpos); if (currentpos != document.body.scrollTop) sc();} document.onmousedown=scdocument.ondblclick=initialize G.R. VARMA AND B.V. BABU 60 and their socio-economic and demographic determinants were studied and reported among rural populations of West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. METHODOLOGY The information for the present study was obtained from 214 households, drawn from three villages in Palakol and Palakoderu mandals (developmental blocks) of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. The information pertaining to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of households, and about fertility was collected from the head of the household (either male or female), through in-depth interviews with structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included the questions on desired size of the family (number and gender of children) and preference for the first child. The data were entered into a personal computer and analysis was done through SPSS v.10 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The respondents were categorized based on their age, caste, occupation, education, income and age at marriage. Based on the caste, the respondents were categorized into scheduled caste (SC) and non SC. The Government of India grouped some castes into SC for positive discrimination in education, employment and other development opportunities for their upliftment. This includes the castes, which were once considered as untouchables according to Hindu varna system. All other castes were grouped as non SC. RESULTS In the present community, the mean desirable number of children is 2.5. The multiple classification analysis (MCA) indicates that more than half of the respondents (56.3% men and 52.5% women) desired to have only two children (Table 1). Interestingly only 2.9% of male respondents desired to have one child. Substantially higher proportions of men (33.3%) and women (27.5%) responded that the desirable Table 1: Multiple classification analysis of responses regarding desirable number of children Desirable number of children Men Women 1 23 ≥ 41 2 3 ≥ 4 Age Group ≤ 30 (m=18, f=10) 1 .2 6.3 2.9 - - 17.5 5.0 2.5 31-40 (m=62, f=9) 1 .2 23.6 9.8 1.2 - 15.0 5.0 2.5 41-50 (m=60, f=13) - 20.1 12.6 1.7 - 7.5 15.0 10.0 ≥ 51 (m=34, f=8) 0 .6 6.3 8.0 4.6 - 12.5 2.5 5.0 Caste SC (m=154, f=39) 1 .7 48.3 31.0 7.5 - 52.5 27.5 17.5 Non SC (m=20, f=1) 1 .2 8. 1 2. 3 - - - - 2. 5 Occupation Agriculture labourer (m=112, f=32) 1 .7 34.5 23.0 5.2 - 37.5 25.0 17.5 Small farmer (m=31, f=0) 1 .2 10.9 5.8 - - - - - Employee (m=24, f=2) - 7.5 4.0 2.3 - 5.0 - - House wife (m=0, f=6) - - - - - 10.0 2.5 2.5 Others (m=7, f=0) - 3.5 0 .6 - - - - - Education Illiterate (m=52, f=16) 0 .6 13.2 13.2 2.6 - 15.0 10.0 15.0 Primary education (m=50, f=11) 0 .6 17.8 8.1 2.3 - 12.5 12.5 2.5 Secondary education & more (m=72, f=13) 1 .7 25.3 12.1 2.3 25.0 5.0 2.5 Annual Income (in Rupees) ≤ 8,000 (m=84, f=24) 1 .1 27.0 17.2 2.9 37.5 15.0 7.5 8,001-10,000 (m=32, f=6) 1 .7 9.2 5.8 1.7 - 2.5 7.5 5.0 10,001-20,000(m=39, f=5) - 13.8 6.9 1.7 - 2.5 2.5 7.5 ≥ 20,001 (m=19, f=5) - 6.3 3.5 1.2 - 10.0 2.5 - Age at Marriage ≤ 20 (m=92, f=37) 0 .6 24.7 24.1 3.5 - 45.0 27.5 20.0 21-25 (m=72, f=3) 2 .3 26.4 9.2 3.5 - 7.5 - - ≥ 26 (m=10, f=0) - 5. 2 - 0. 6 - - - - Total 2.9 56.3 33.3 7.5 - 52.5 27.5 20.0 m=male, f=female; Figures in parenthesis indicate size of the sample in that category.
关键词：Family planning; family size; son preference; rural; Andhra Pradesh