Kerala’s Demographic Transition : Determinants and Consequences

The state of Kerala has been the focus of considerable international attention for its success in several key areas of the social sector including literacy, education, health and family planning. An area in which Kerala has done remarkably well is in demographic transition–namely, changes in the birth and death rates and in the age structure of the population. At the same time, Kerala has a relatively poor record in industrial production and agricultural growth. This would appear to be an anomaly since the widely held belief is that declines in fertility and mortality rates are primarily a consequence of high economic growth rates. The purpose of this volume is to understand the reasons why Kerala was able to achieve its demographic transition even in the absence of corresponding buoyancy in the economic sectors in order to draw lessons for both other Indian states and other developing nations. Among the aspects discussed by the contributors are the nature of this transition; the role played by education, age at marriage and the use of contraceptives; the causes and consequences of population ageing; the impact of both internal and external migration; and possible future patterns of population growth and age structure and their socioeconomic implications.