This volume brings together 13 well-researched and original essays which describe and analyse the trajectory of fertility decline in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Documenting the fact that the fertility decline occurred in regions with vast differences in development indicators, the contributors argue that this transition must be understood as a cumulative result of several factors including family planning policies, socio-economic transformation, and changes in social perceptions towards fertility, contraception, marriage, family and child rearing. Combining various qualitative and quantitative techniques with field studies and historical analysis, the contributors go beyond the formal tools of demography and develop an original Geographical Information System (GIS), a spatialized database encompassing south Indian districts.

Preface List of Tables List of Figures List of Maps CHAPTER 1. Introduction 2. Methodology 3. The Study Aera and its People 4. Demographic Description and Fertility Differentials 5. Family Type and its Relationship with Fertility 6. The Family Planning Programme in the Research Area 7. Fertility and Family Planning Decision-Making: Dimensions and Supports. 8. Acceptors and Non-Acceptors of Family Planning, and the Decision-Making Process 9. Value of Children and Education 10. Conclusion and Overview of Findings Further Readings Appendix Index Page

This compendium of nineteen chapters, written by South Asia scholars and international authorities in the field of population, provides an overview of a range of issues surrounding fertility change in South Asia over the past decade.

The central theme of this book deals with the contemporary perspectives on diversity in development cum moderization and their differential influence on contrasting fertility behaviour in the advanced regions of southern Kerala as against the less progressive northern area.

Describes and analyses the corollaries of declining fertility in Southern India to discover how familial and gender relations are affected by the new situation of women giving birth only to 2-3 children.