What are the Causes of High Birth-Rate in India?

(1) Universal marriage and child marriage:

Marriage is a social necessity so all the marriageable males and females get married. A study of 1970 shows 50 women out of 1000 were unmarried in the U.S.A. but in India it was only 5. Due to universal marriage, the number of children becomes more.

Not only universal marriage but also marriage at an early age also adds fuel to rising population. Due to early marriage, the child-bearing period becomes more and population rises rapidly. So early marriage and universal marriage are responsible for high birth-rate.

(2) Indifferent attitude in adopting birth control devices:

Birth-rate would be less if we adopt different birth control devices. Due to the reason stated below, Indians are indifferent in adopting birth control devices.

(a) Religious and social belief:

People treat child as the gift of God. So they do not adopt artificial method to control the birth. Again people also think about the importance of children in protecting the family and people give more importance to male child over the female. So the reproduction goes on unless and until a male child is born.

(b) Poverty:

The people of developed countries control the birth-rate willfully to raise their standard of living. As the people of our country are poor, they treat children as their income-earners and to improve their standard of living. These children are not regarded as burden to the parents and they do not spend more for their bringing up. These children add income to the family. As a result people do not control birth-rate as they treat children as income earning asset.

(3) Illiteracy and ignorance:

As per 2001 census 65.4 per cent of our populations are literate. The rate of illiteracy is more among the female. Lack of literacy makes the family members ignorant about the family planning programme. Illiterate people are generally ignorant and superstitious. They have no courage to raise voice against the evils of the society- It means illiteracy and ignorance keep birth-rate at a high rate.

(4) Lack of birth control devices:

People are not interested to adopt small family norms to get the facilities provided by the Government. Uses of loop and vasectomy operations are not available readily. Birth control devices and medicines are not available extensively. But now some of the problems have been eradicated.