Instead of paying out a dowry when daughters marry, parents in
Kerala receive money from the bridegroom's family. Some women
can inherit and own land, giving them financial independence
and power of their own.
85% of
women in Kerala are literate, and girls outnumber boys in
higher education.
Women with
qualifications are more likely to work, and marry later. The
average age of marriage for women in Kerala is the highest in
India, which again reduces the likelihood of having a large
family.
With better education, women are more
likely to know how to keep their children healthy.
Consequently, infant
mortality in Kerala has fallen
dramatically.
If
children have a greater chance of survival, families are less
likely to try for more.
Kerala
has
experienced the country's greatest fall in fertility rates.
Here, women have an average of two children, much the same as
the UK.
Kerala still has
many matrilineal communities, ie. families where the family
name is carried on by the daughters.
Women own
the land, the houses and their contents. When a woman marries,
she doesn't leave her home.
.In
the matrilineal cultures of Kerala a mother with a child,
regardless of marital status, has a home and support from the
male relatives living with her.
