Fertility is declining in some groups in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Reasons for this decline are unknown. The student will test hypotheses that the differences in fertility are due to kinship type, family type, the status of women, education and employment, and the amount of social control by women in specific groups. Specifically she will determine if materlineal castes are those experiencing decline rather than patrilineal castes and religious groups. This study will tell us much about the social aspect of fertility. This research project has important ramificaitions for population control in India and may help explain the differential decline in southern versus northern India. There has been a noted difference in the sucess of population planning programs in different parts of India and this study will help us understand whether this is due to variations in kinship and family systems. The results will help guide India's efforts to develop socially acceptable population policies.
