Two-child trend testifies poor health, low income
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 30, 2022 -

TO those handful of non-governmental organisations that have been annually rewarding Manipuri woman who bears maximum number of children, the report of the National Family Health Survey 2019-20 is certain to have rippling effect for the very objective of honouring mothers who deliver highest number of live births and nurture them till maturity is to stem the dwindling population.

There might be multiple reasons for the Manipuri women preferring to limit their progenies to an average of two with socio-economic condition obviously being the prime factor.

As had been reported, 45.9 per cent of women in the age group of 25-34 years, which is considered the prime age of child bearing, don't want in excess of two children.

While it is understandable that younger women would prefer to delay getting pregnant in order to get acquainted with the nuances of married life and older ones opt to focus on proper upbringing of the children, it is not surprising that there were lesser percentage of Manipuri menfolk reportedly covered during the survey, who subscribed to the two-child idea, as their role in parenting is particularly confined to ensuring steady flow of income.

The same report also states that 67.6 per cent of women from the Hindu community are satisfied with having only two children, thereby corroborating why the majority community is witnessing gradual decline in population.

Such demographic changes could be one of the reasons for the valley-based organisations fiercely advocating effective enforcement of the inner line permit system so as to maintain the population balance.

However, another point in the said survey that is both distressful and delightful is that 19.5 per cent of the married women of the state do not have any child, 54.9 per cent have only one, 76.6 per cent have two, 82.8 per cent have three and 88.1 per cent have four or more children.

The higher percentage of women with more than three or over four children implies that there are many couples who do not face any financial or health issues, two core factors that come into play for any couple eyeing a big family.

That men prefer daughter more than women in the state, as per the survey report, compared to 23.3 per cent of married women wanting their first child to be male also negates the narrative that Manipuri society has been traditionally inclined towards having more male offspring.

Whether or not Manipuri couples want male/female progenies won't matter much to the civil societies eager to see increase in the population of the indigenous communities but it is certain that the two-child norm of nearly half of the total married women in the state as found in the survey report and published some days back would be perturbing.

Regardless of the survey report testifying imminent drastic demographic changes sooner than later, there is no quick-fix solution to the situation unless there is overall improvement in the socio-economic condition of families, especially among the lower and middle class strata of the society as well as in the health of the adult women.