Indigenous Modes of Fertility Control

Abstract

Demographic literature is replete with observations of an inverse relation between certain attributes of modernity and family size (Thompson 1929; Notestein 1945; Coale and Hoover 1958; Leiberman 1980, Srinivasan 1986). These attributes are industrial economy, higher female literacy and gainful employment of women outside the household. They form a framework wherein couples are expected to acquire attitudes favouring fertility reduction. These attitudes are supposed to be rooted in the couple's ability to make decisions and exercise control. The image of a modern couple derived from this construct is one of rational beings, who actively confront the conditions of life. They do not passively accept the dictates of the conditions of life and regulate their fertility
with a view to organizing life in a way as to control it better.