In the modern era of globalization, Western cultural values are being disseminated through economic and financial channels in developing countries, including through the import of so-called cultural goods (films, books, etc.). Among the cultural values promoted in one form or another by Western media, literature and cinema are the ideas of women's emancipation and feminism which are extremely popular nowadays in the West. However, the movement for women's empowerment that has developed in the "third world "is not only a result of the"demonstration effect". According to UNESCO experts, gender equality is one of the main tasks in the creation of "knowledge societies", the formation of which is taking place in our time [To Knowledge Societies..., 2005]. The Fourth World Conference on Women, organized by the United Nations (Beijing, 1995), highlighted the important role of knowledge and new technologies in attracting women to participate in the economy and strengthening their self-reliance, especially in developing countries. It was stated that poverty, discrimination, and illiteracy significantly hinder women's access to the global information community.

In the modern world, women play an increasingly important role. In developed countries, more women than men are currently enrolled in higher education; they produce more than half of GDP (about 40% in official statistics, plus homework in material terms) [A Guide..., 2006, p. 73].

The problem of the status of women in society has emerged with new urgency in Western economic literature since about 1970. The UN in 1975 proclaimed the Decade of Women at its first World Conference on Women's Issues in Mexico City, which followed a year after the conference on Population in Bucharest. The link between the " population explosion "and the" underdevelopment " of women in developing countries has led to the idea that there is a contradiction between women's reproductive functions and their participation in social production, and that increasing their socio-economic status will lower the birth rate. International financial assistance has been allocated to family planning programs and projects to increase women's incomes in rural cooperatives and urban slums.

In the early 1980s, many Eastern feminist theorists criticized Western feminism for ignoring the experience of developing countries. In their opinion, it is impossible to say that the gender problem exists outside the framework of cultural differences, i.e., that women represent a universal category for the purposes of the study. The well-known Indian feminist Chandra Mohanty proves in her works that Western emancipation programs are completely out of line-

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meet the needs of women in developing countries [Hoogvelt, 2001, pp. 53-56; http://www.owl.ru/gender].

Currently, when studying the tender issue, relations between men and women as social units are being investigated. These relationships vary greatly in different cultural and historical contexts. What is a man's job in some places is the prerogative of women in others; their rights to land ownership, inheritance rights, legal rights, and marital obligations also vary greatly. A number of empirical studies have demonstrated how even programs aimed at women's development often failed to meet their intended goals due to ignoring the role of women and their involvement in production. Thus, although the development of cooperation allowed India to take the first place in milk production [Malyarov, 2000, p. 127], however, the participation of women in the project of dairy cooperatives in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh unexpectedly only increased their workload, not allowing them to take advantage of the fruits of their labor, while men controlled paid jobs and income from dairy production.

Inequality between men and women (gender asymmetry [Yurlova, 2003, p. 207]) is particularly pronounced in the East. If we compare the living standards of people in developing countries, we find that almost everywhere it is women who suffer most from malnutrition and lack of health care. As for India, it has a number of unique cultural features and traditional social institutions that aggravate the situation of women: the undivided family; the institution of prohibition of widows ' marriage; marriages concluded by the decision of relatives; the custom of seclusion - parda. Numerous studies confirm that women in South Asia (Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) have a lower status than in most other countries of the world (Haddad, 1999, p.126). Indian women have fewer opportunities to get an education and work in the formal sector of the economy. In no state in India do men and women earn the same salary in agriculture.

The women's movement in India began even before independence: in 1828, the Brahmo Samaj society advocated the abolition of self - immolation of widows-sati, the abolition of the ban on widows ' marriage and the abolition of the institution of child marriage, the rejection of seclusion and the introduction of women's education. This movement is considered one of the most active in the world. In Mumbai, there is a Bombay Women's University with a postgraduate program and a research department, and in Delhi, with the support of the government, there is a Women's Development Center that prepares programs on women's issues for Indian educational institutions [India Today..., 2005, pp. 374-379]. At the same time, at the end of the 20th century, only 18 Indian universities included courses on tender issues in their master's programs (Chanana, 2002).

To understand the role of women in Indian society, it is necessary to consider the "history of the problem", its origins in the Indian cultural and civilizational context. In Hinduism, there is a concept of a special energy inherent only in a woman - shakti. In Indian darshanas - schools of Indian philosophy - one can find residual evidence of the existence of matriarchy in India. Thus, it is possible that in developing the concept of "two principles" - spirit, consciousness (purusha) and material first cause (prakriti) - the creators of sankhya used images borrowed from the life of an ancient matriarchal society (Bongard-Levin, Gerasimov, 1975, p.80).

The following idea, expressed in the Manavadharmashastra (Laws of Manu), is also valid for the daily life of modern India: "One of the fundamental principles of dharma is the following: a husband gets a wife given by the gods, not by God.

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a devotee should always be supported by doing what is pleasing to the gods. Women are created for birth, men for reproduction, so in the sacred revelation the dharma is declared [for a man] to be shared with his wife." Joint performance of the dharma is mandatory, and no orthodox Hindu believer will risk doing anything (starting with some financial and banking operation and ending with going on a pilgrimage) if his wife does not take part in it, at least with her advice [Guseva, 1977, p.253].

Buddhism played a special role. "The Buddha's sermons attracted not only male but also female audiences. It was not considered in any way reprehensible to explain to them the basics of the doctrine, to answer their questions, to explain certain provisions of the doctrine. Along with communities of Buddhist monks, there are also communities of nuns (this is already mentioned in the edicts of Ashoka). The Canon elaborates disciplinary rules for them in great detail. Lay women were allowed to remarry in the event of their husband's death. All these provisions radically diverged from the precepts of Brahmanism, which denied women the right to any independent spiritual life" [Bongard-Levin, Gerasimov, 1975, p.80]. Due to the fact that Buddhist values are less discriminatory than the cultural traditions of other South Asian societies, Sri Lanka, where Buddhism is quite widespread, has higher rates of women's development compared to other South Asian countries [Haddad, 1999, p.117].

Women in India are not historically independent. In the Manavadharmashastra, the model of a woman's behavior is formulated as follows: "A woman - in childhood, young or even old - should not perform any work of her own free will, even in [her own] home. In childhood, she is supposed to be under the authority of her father, in her youth - her husband, after the death of her husband - [under the authority of] her sons: let a woman never enjoy independence..." [Guseva, 1977, p.146]. Women in India are traditionally respected in the image of mothers, wives, and sisters, but there is an opinion in society that a woman's place is at home, leaving her home to earn money, she loses the right to respect and "provokes" men with such behavior to inappropriate and disrespectful attitude towards her.

In modern India, a woman can hold high positions (think of Indira Gandhi or the more modern example of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress party; the example of Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, who led the government of Uttar Pradesh three times, or Rabri Devi, the recently chief Minister of Bihar), but it should be noted that many were able to take up their positions only because they were part of dynasties: Indira Gandhi is the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabri Devi is the wife of the former chief Minister of the same state, who "handed over" his post to his wife before resigning.

Even more interesting is the example of Sonia Gandhi, an Italian by nationality. Her tenure as chairman of one of the leading political parties in India has been widely discussed in the Indian press. There was angry confusion about how a woman of a different nationality could become the chairman of a party that has ruled India for more than 50 years. The answer to these attacks was that the main thing for a woman is not what family she comes from, but what family her husband comes from.

The Indian Constitution granted women the right to vote in elections as early as 1950. However, at present, less than 8% of seats in Parliament, less than 6% in the Cabinet, and less than 4% in the courts and Supreme Court of India are occupied by women [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 7]. However, it should be noted that there is no correlation between the data presented in the Human Development Reports published in the Russian Federation.

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Schedule 1

Age categories of women in a number of countries

-----

Notes: PRS - industrialized countries, PC-developing countries.

Source: Women of Our World. 2005. Population Reference Bureau // www.prb.org.

The UN Women's Development Index (GDI)* and the Women's Rights Orientation Index, including in the political sphere (GEM) [Human Development..., 2005]. For comparison: according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, if in India, as of December 31, 2005, 8% of deputies in the lower house of parliament were represented by women, in the upper house - 11%, in Sri Lanka, which has higher indicators of women's development (Sri Lanka is on the 66th place in the women's development index). While India ranked 98th [Human Development..., 2005, p. 299-302]), women accounted for 5% in Parliament, while in Muslim Bangladesh (105th place) and Pakistan (107th place) the figures were significantly higher: Bangladesh-15%, in India-15%. Pakistan has 21% and 18% in the two wards, respectively. This figure is even higher in China - 20%. In Russia-10% in the lower and 3% in the upper house, in the United States-15 and 14%. The first places in this rating are mainly occupied by Scandinavian countries: Sweden - 45% of members of parliament are women, Norway, Finland, Denmark-more than 35% [http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm].

According to the 1991 census, India had a population of 403 million people. According to the 2001 census, there are 481 million women, and by 2016 it is expected that their number will reach 615 million. A special feature of developing countries is the high proportion of girls under the age of 15 in the total female population due to the high birth rate and NCDs-

* Calculated based on the ratio of the following indicators: life expectancy, adult literacy rate, school enrollment, income of women and men.

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a high percentage of women are over 49 years of age due to the still low life expectancy. In 2005, India had 531.9 million women, of whom 32% were under the age of 15, 52% were between the ages of 15 and 49, and 16% were over 50 (Figure 1). Similar figures for Pakistan are 40, 48, 12% and Bangladesh - 37, 52, 11%, they are closer to the global average values in Sri Lanka-24, 56, 20% and in China-21, 56, 23%, in Russia-13, 51, 35%, in the USA-20, 49, 31%. Accordingly, on average for the world as a whole and groups of countries, these figures are as follows: the world - 28, 52, 20%, developed countries - 16, 48, 36%, developing countries - 31, 53, 17% [Women of Our World, 2005]. These data indicate the relative "youth" of the female population of India, which leads to a further increase in the birth rate. On average, a woman in India gives birth to her first child before the age of 22. In India, at the end of the last century, 65% of women aged 25-49 were married before the age of 18, while in states such as Bihar, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the number exceeded 80% [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p.62].

The ancient political and economic treatise "Arthashastra" states that " a woman is considered an adult at 12 years of age, i.e. at this age she can be married off." It was the custom of the upper castes to marry off girls before puberty, so that their parents would not accept the sin of potentially killing those children who might have been born in the girl's womb after the first menstrual period, but would not be born if she did not have a husband. The custom of child marriage became widespread among other castes, who sought to reproduce the behavior patterns of members of high castes. Being canonized by Hinduism as a form of dharma, this custom was widely practiced in India until the 1930s. It has not completely disappeared to this day, but according to the law, parents who allow child marriages are criminally liable [Guseva, 1977, p. 255; Yurlova, 1982, p.17]. According to various estimates, between 40 and 50% of marriages in India are concluded before the age of marriage (18 years for girls, 21 years for boys). According to UNICEF, 15% of girls in rural areas of the country are married before the age of 13, 52% of girls have their first pregnancy between the ages of 15 and 19 [India's effort..., 2005].

One of the main competitive features of India is the demographic disparity. It is one of the few countries in the world where women make up a smaller percentage of the population than men. The literacy rate of women here is much lower than that of men, and the proportion of women in formal employment is extremely low. According to the 1991 census, 927 women accounted for 1,000 men, while the 2001 census accounted for 933 (with the exception of the only "female" state of Kerala (other than the Union territory of Pondicherry), which will be discussed in more detail below) [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 7]. The global average is 103-105 women per 100 men. According to Amartya Sen, with a population of more than 1 billion. There are 25 million women missing in India. Moreover, this indicator does not depend on low incomes of the population, and the demographic disparity increases over time (Table 1). It can be seen that in the north of the country, a belt of states with the most unbalanced gender structure of the population has formed, which coincides with the geography of the spread of fundamentalist Hindu movements. In the southern states, the imbalance is not so significant [India Today..., 2005, p. 62]. In 2001, the states of Haryana and Punjab, despite their high per capita incomes, had only 861 and 874 women per 1,000 men, a drop from 1991 in the relatively affluent state of Maharashtra. The lowest rates are in the union territory of Delhi. The state of Orissa (one of the poorest states in terms of income) has 972 women per 1000 men. In tribal societies, women have a higher social status, with 973 women per 1,000 men, while in all other caste groups combined, the average number is 923.

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Table 1

Number of women per 1000 men in India (1901-2001)

India / States/Union Territories*

Year of qualification

1901

1911

1921

1931

1941

1951

1961

1971

1981

1991

2001

India 1, 2, 3

972

964

955

950

945

946

941

930

934

927

933

Jammu and Kashmir 2

882

876

870

865

869

873

878

878

892

896

900

Himachal Pradesh 3

884

889

890

897

890

912

938

958

973

976

970

Punjab

832

780

799

815

836

844

854

865

879

882

874

Chandigarh*

771

720

743

751

763

781

652

749

769

790

773

Uttaranchal

918

907

916

913

907

940

947

940

936

936

964

Haryana

867

835

844

844

869

871

868

867

870

865

861

Delhi*

862

793

733

722

715

768

785

801

808

827

821

Rajasthan

905

908

896

907

906

921

908

911

919

910

922

Uttar Pradesh

938

916

908

903

907

908

907

876

882

876

898

Bihar

1061

1051

1020

995

1002

1000

1005

957

948

907

921

Sikkim

916

951

970

967

920

907

904

863

835

878

875

Arunachal Pradesh 4

-

-

-

-

-

-

894

861

862

859

901

Nagaland

973

993

992

997

1021

999

933

871

863

886

909

Manipur

1037

1029

1041

1065

1055

1036

1015

980

971

958

978

Mizoram

1113

1120

1109

1102

1069

1041

1009

946

919

921

938

Tripura

874

885

885

885

886

904

932

943

946

945

950

Meghalaya

1036

1013

1000

971

966

949

937

942

954

955

975

Assam

919

915

896

874

875

868

869

896

910

923

932

West Bengal

945

925

905

890

852

865

878

891

911

917

934

Jharkhand

1032

1021

1002

989

978

961

960

945

940

922

941

Orissa

1037

1056

1086

1067

1053

1022

1001

988

981

971

972

Chhatisgarh

1046

1039

1041

1043

1032

1024

1008

998

996

985

990

Madhya Pradesh

972

967

949

947

946

945

932

920

921

912

920

Gujarat 3

954

946

944

945

941

952

940

934

942

934

921

Daman and Diu*

995

1040

1143

1088

1080

1125

1169

1099

1062

969

709

Dadra and Nagar Haveli *

960

967

940

911

925

946

963

1007

974

952

811

Maharashtra

978

966

950

947

949

941

936

930

937

934

922

Andhra Pradesh

985

992

993

987

980

986

981

977

975

972

978

Karnataka

983

981

969

965

960

966

959

957

963

960

964

Goa

1091

1108

1120

1088

1084

1128

1066

981

975

967

960

Lakshadweep*

1063

987

1027

994

1018

1043

1020

978

975

943

947

Kerala

1004

1008

1011

1022

1027

1028

1022

1016

1032

1036

1058

Tamilnadu

1044

1042

1029

1027

1012

1007

992

978

977

974

986

Pondicherry*

-

1058

1053

-

-

1030

1013

989

985

979

1001

Andaman and Nicobar Islands*

318

352

303

495

574

625

617

644

760

818

846

-----

Notes: 1. The calculation for 1981 was based on interpolated data for Assam;

2. For the calculation of 1991, interpolated data for Jammu and Kashmir were used;

3. Estimates for the affected areas of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were used for the 2001 calculation;

4. There are no data for Arunachal Pradesh for 1901-1951, and no data for Pondicherry for 1901, 1931, and 1941.

Source: www.indiastat.com.

The demographic disparity is caused by several factors. This is the traditional preference for male babies, and the increased mortality of women in labor. It follows from Todaro's economic theory of fertility [Todaro, 1997, p. 184] that the family's demand for children is determined by parental preferences regarding the number of surviving children, primarily boys. In regions with

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With high mortality, parents can "produce" more children, assuming that not all children will survive, given the high infant and child mortality rates. Children in poor countries are seen in part as an investment "commodity", since the return is expected in the form of child labor and providing financial support to parents in old age. The traditional preference of Eastern societies for male infants in India is compounded by the requirements of religion: according to Hindu norms, only the son can perform funeral and memorial ceremonies (shraddhi). According to the Lancet Medical Journal (UK), about 10 million female embryos have been killed in India over the past few decades as a result of selective abortions. This phenomenon is called female infanticide (Yurlova, 2003, p. 213). After analyzing data on 133,738 cases, the researchers concluded that girls were particularly undesirable in families where there is already a first child - a girl. Moreover, the shortage of girls as a second child was twice as high in families with literate women.

Since 1994, India has passed the Prevention of Prenatal Diagnostic Abuse Act, which prohibits sex determination by ultrasound and amniocytosis and abortion based on gender preferences [10 million..., 2006; Missing: 50 million..., 2005; Unborn Girls..., 2005]. According to the law, a woman can face a prison sentence of three years and a fine of 50,000 rupees, and a doctor can lose her license, but no case has yet been brought to court: in practice, it is very difficult to prove that the diagnosis is not carried out for medical reasons to detect genetic abnormalities in the development of the fetus [India today..., 2005, p. 62]. It is noteworthy that it is in those states where amniocytosis research and sex determination centers are most widely used that some of the lowest female/male ratios are observed.: Uttar Pradesh, Punjab (more than 2 thousand centers), Haryana, Maharashtra [India today..., 2005, p. 62].

Scientists warn that this state of affairs may lead to an even stronger demographic imbalance. So, in China, with its one-child policy, this resulted in about 40 million bachelors [India's lost..., 2006].

However, in India, methods of getting rid of unwanted baby girls are still common, including such cruel ones as mixing pesticides, poppy seeds or rice skins in food, which leads to injuries to the esophagus. In some areas, children are fed juice or a paste of poisonous oleander berries, smeared with poison on the mother's breast, smothered with a wet towel or sandbag, or put under a running fan to suffocate the child. In adulthood, women's health is also often at risk. Since most doctors in rural areas are men, women are traditionally reluctant to see them. Often, women are simply not allowed to leave the house to go to the doctor. According to opinion polls, only 52% of women in India are asked their opinion about their health status, while in Madhya Pradesh this figure is only 37% [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 29]. Only 50% of Indian villages have public health centers. Only 10% of the rural population lives in villages with hospitals (public or private) [Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, India].

More than 50% of married women suffer from anemia. Its causes are lack of care during and after pregnancy, insufficient caloric intake, lack of supervision by a gynecologist, early and frequent childbirth. In some parts of the country, papayas, pineapples, eggs, and game are considered harmful to pregnant women, while such foods are rich in iron and vitamin A, which is essential for this period of a woman's life. The death rate of women in labor is extremely high (calculated as the number of deaths of women in labor during childbirth and within 40 days after them per 100,000 live births).

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In 2000, this figure was 540 people [Human Development..., 2005, p. 252]. The highest rate in Uttar Pradesh is 707.Between 100,000 and 120,000 women die each year from childbirth or after childbirth. Only 42% of deliveries take place in the presence of a doctor [World Development..., 2005]. Even at minimal cost (training women in the basics of medicine and maintaining roads in good condition), mortality could be significantly reduced.

However, such a poor situation is not inherent in all states. Whereas in 1951, the life expectancy of an Indian woman was 32 years, in 2001, the life expectancy of an Indian woman was 32 years. it has grown to 63 years, while in Kerala this figure has reached 75 years. The example of this state attracted many scientists. In 2001, the female literacy rate in Kerala was about 90%, compared to the national average of 50% [Kerala Human Development..., 2005, p. 24]; in Kerala, about 97% of girls aged 6 to 14 attend school (Table 2).

The table shows that the southern state of Kerala, which is second only to some states in terms of per capita income, stands out sharply from others in terms of literacy and women's education coverage. The reasons for the higher literacy rate are largely related to the historical development of Kerala. This is also the matrilineal tradition of property inheritance that is characteristic of South India: the high status of women in matrilineal culture has had a positive impact on society's attitude to women's education [Why is Son..., 2002, p. 9-10]. In addition, Kerala has a long history of cooperation with representatives of other nations, among which a special place belongs to the Syrian Christians. The social movements that took place in this state in the first quarter of the 20th century put forward demands for enlightenment and education of untouchable castes and tribes [Yurlova, 2002, p.171]. Among the reasons for the special situation of this state are the measures in favor of the poor adopted by left-wing governments, agrarian reforms, and the high level of provision of health care and other public services [Kerala..., 2005]. As a result, Kerala was ahead of all other states in the country in terms of quality of life. Since women here have more access to high - paying jobs, the birth rate here is 1.7 - 1.8 [India Today..., 2005, p.377], while in the whole country the level of fertility, which contributes to correspondingly high population growth rates, is quite high.

India was one of the first countries to introduce birth control policies. However, it sometimes took very ugly forms. So, in the mid-1970s in India, tea plantations opened savings accounts for female workers. Deposits depended on the number of children, and if a woman gave birth too often, the account could be canceled. Savings were paid to women when they reached the age of 45 in the form of a benefit or pension. Later, in Northern India, women or their husbands were given cash rewards, transistor radios, and even free tickets to soccer World Cup matches for sterilization. Overall, the program was not supported. The defeat of Indira Gandhi's government in the March 1977 elections is largely attributed to the population's rejection of the government's sterilization policy [Todaro, 1997, pp. 197-198].

Let us highlight the main conditions for reducing the birth rate among the poorest segments of the population. This:

- increasing the level of education of women and, as a result, changing their role and status in society;

- increasing opportunities for women to get paid jobs;

- increase family income through increased earnings and employment opportunities for the husband and wife, or through programs to help the poor;

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Table 2

Status of women in the States of India

State / Union Territory

Population as of July 1, 2000, million

Illiterate women over 6 years of age, %

women attending school (6-14 years old), %

women aged 15-49 who have been married, who (%)

women making decisions about their health, %

women (20-24 years old) who were married before the age of 18, %

they live in cities

have irregular access to mass media

India

1002.1

48.6

73.7

26.2

40.3

51.6

50

North

Delhi

14.1

21.7

90.8

92.1

7.3

68.7

19.8

Haryana

19.9

42.7

85.5

28.8

33.1

67.2

41.5

Himachal Pradesh

6.7

31.3

97.3

9.1

16.3

80.8

10.7

Jammu and Kashmir

10

55.3

77.5

21.5

25.6

55.5

22.1

Punjab

23.6

35.1

90

30.8

18

78.5

11.6

Rajasthan

53.9

62.9

63.2

24.2

63.1

40.6

68.3

Centre

Madhya Pradesh

80.2

55.5

70.8

25.3

45.2

36.6

64.7

Uttar Pradesh

171.5

57.3

69.4

20

54.7

44.8

62.4

East

Bihar

100.6

65.2

54.1

10.2

72.7

47.6

71

Orissa

36

48.7

75.1

11

55.7

38.6

37.6

West Bengal

79.3

42.6

76.7

23.8

38.6

45.1

45.9

North-East

Arunachal Pradesh

1.2

43

77.3

15.9

36.7

70

27.6

Assam

26.3

40.9

75

8.5

47.4

65.1

40.7

Manipur

2.5

41.3

87.8

33.7

16.2

43.3

9.9

Meghalaya

2.5

33.2

85.2

20

37.3

78.9

25.5

Mizoram

1

10.6

90.8

52.9

16.9

73.2

11.6

Nagaland

1.7

31.7

83.5

20.3

35.7

69.4

22.9

Sikkim

0.6

35.6

88.5

14.2

21.5

60.2

22.3

West

Goa

1.6

25.2

93.2

41.6

11.6

61.6

10.1

Gujarat

48.5

46.4

72.8

42.5

33.8

71.4

40.7

Maharashtra

91.4

38.6

86.9

41.3

29.6

49.9

47.7

South

Andhra Pradesh

75.9

54

70.5

24.9

23.7

56.1

64.3

Karnataka

52.3

44.5

77.6

34.8

21.4

49.3

46.3

Kerala

32.4

14.9

97.4

23.1

11.5

72.6

17

Tamilnadu

61.9

41.7

88.5

34.6

20.3

61.1

24.9

-----

Source: National Family Health Survey // http://www.nfhsindia.org

- reduce infant mortality by implementing programs to improve health and nutrition for parents and children;

- development of pension and other social support systems to reduce the economic dependence of parents on their children;

- distribution of contraception.

The modern public health system encourages sterilization, or long-term methods such as intrauterine devices that do not require the use of an intrauterine device.

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Table 3

India's population forecast (million people)

Year

2001

2006

2011

2016

2021

2026

Total

1027

1114

1197

1275

1347

1411

Under 15 years of age

363

360

351

343

337

328

15-64 years old

622

702

780

854

916

967

Over 65 years of age

42

52

66

78

94

116

-----

Source: Economic Survey 2005/06 / / www. indiabudget. nic. in.

Schedule 2

Population of India and China aged 15-24 years, 1950-2050

-----

Notes: Calculated based on the average version of the UN population forecast for China and India; 2010-2050-forecast estimates.

Source: www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.

a doctor's follow-up is required. Of all contraception, more than 75% is provided by sterilization, of which 95% is provided by female sterilization. Across the country, less than 50% of couples of childbearing age use contraception, of which about 43% use modern methods [Family Planning..., 2002].

Currently, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that India accounts for 16 million (21%) of the world's annual population growth of 76 million. By 2050, India has every chance of becoming the country with the highest population. India's high population growth rate is mainly due to three factors. The first is a large population of reproductive age (this factor accounts for 60% of the total). The second is a high birth rate due to lack of contraception (20%), the third is a significant level of desired birth rate due to the still high infant mortality rate (20%). In Table 3 and graph. 2 contains forecasts of the population size of various age groups in India and the proportion of the "young" (from 15 to 24 years) population of India and China. In China, this rate is declining due to the one-child-per-family policy, leading to an" aging " population, while in India, it is estimated that it will continue to grow for some time.

If the fight against India's high population growth rate is to be successful, measures must be taken to improve the economic and social situation of women, create barriers to early marriage and high birth rates, and reduce infant and child mortality rates. Research shows that educating women and empowering them in the socio-economic sphere leads to better nutrition and mental development of children, as well as improving their health.

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Table 4

Correlation between women's literacy/learning/income levels and fertility rates across a group of 146 countries

FERTILITY

LITERACY

training

income

FERTILITY

1

-0.807054772

-0.801684708

-0.631583061

LITERACY

-0.807054772

1

0.836368543

0.589357223

training

-0.801684708

0.836368543

1

0.702852155

income

-0.631583061

0.589357223

0.702852155

1

-----

Calculated by: [Human Development..., 2001] using the Statistica program.

This leads to higher incomes and higher quality of education in the long run, which increases the well-being of families and states [Haddad, 1999]. A woman's education also significantly increases the chances of survival in children. Researchers have estimated that even a few years of female schooling reduces the infant mortality rate by almost 40% [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 26-27].

There is a clear correlation between women's education and fertility. Most studies show an inverse relationship between a woman's education (especially at the initial stage) and family size in developing countries. Table 4 shows the correlation coefficients calculated by the author for 146 countries of the world for the following indicators: average fertility in 1995-2000 (FERTILITY), literacy of women over 15 years of age in 1999 (LITERACY), women's education coverage (total primary, secondary and higher education) in 1999 (EDUCATION), estimates of women's income in the United States. in US dollars at purchasing power parities of the currencies of 1999 (INCOME). There is an inverse relationship between educational and literacy coverage, on the one hand, and fertility rates, on the other.

Nevertheless, it should be remembered that in the context of a shortage of resources in the state, quantitative expansion of the education system beyond primary schools is probably unwise and impractical, since it leads to an increase in migration from rural areas to cities in search of jobs and, as a result, leads to an increase in unemployment.

In India, the gap between male and female literacy remains extremely large. Only two countries in the world - Yemen (30%) and Guinea-Bissau (39.8%) - have a larger gap than, for example, in the state of Rajasthan (Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 49). Although the gap in India's literacy rates is narrowing as a percentage, the average annual increase in male literacy has slowed in recent years compared to the 1970s. (at that time, the proportion of literate men grew by an average of 2%, and literate women - by 3% per year; in the 1980s, these figures were 1.3 and 2.8%, respectively, and in the 1990s-early 2000s - 1.7 and 3.2%, respectively), however, according to the census Since 2001, 76% of literate men still account for only 54% of literate women [Nebogatova, 2004, p. 100].

Many researchers point out that a program aimed at reducing the birth rate should be based on creating jobs for women [Todaro, 1997, p.198]. The prospect of having their own income may force women to postpone marriage for a later time. Having sources of income is an alternative to early marriage and frequent pregnancies. In addition, working outside the home saves women from social isolation, which hinders the implementation of family planning programs.

The policy of stimulating economic growth increases the differences in labor productivity between men and women and their remuneration, which contributes to the further deterioration of women's economic positions within households. Wages

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women in India are currently on average 30% lower than men [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 56]. In general, men have almost complete control over all household finances in India, regardless of women's contribution to total income.

Women face the problem of acquiring start-up capital, as almost all institutional credit systems are focused on the formal sector and are not interested in distributing small loans outside of it. The inability to access resources and credit narrows the choice of activities, resulting in less efficient production methods and lower incomes. Because of fewer choices, women are more committed to traditional economic activities: many women are engaged in small-scale microenterprises that do not require significant start-up capital, often selling home-made food and handicrafts. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is a good example of microfinance. It provides loans to small entrepreneurs in rural areas, mostly women-96% of the nearly 6 million borrowers. The program proved to be very successful: over 98% of loans granted are returned, and the investment efficiency exceeds 150% [http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/GBGlance].

Growing cash crops, producing food for the family, caring for livestock and selling it at the market, handicrafts, and household chores, including cooking, require a lot of time, so women's working hours last longer than men's. And in addition to domestic work, women account for 60 to 80% of the total agricultural workforce in Africa and Asia. The crucial role of women is one of the features of agricultural systems in these countries. Thus, according to the 1991 census, 46.3% of working women in India were agricultural workers [Dunlop and Velkoff, 1999, p. 2].

Few programs to improve the efficiency of women's work produce significant results. The wife spends a larger portion of her income than the husband on providing the family with food and basic necessities. Therefore, many studies show that increasing household income as a whole does not necessarily lead to better nutrition and health. A woman's low economic role can have negative consequences for her and her children. Therefore, State development programs must take into account the interests of all family members, and it often happens that anti - poverty programs and land reforms reduce the earnings and status of women, since land is traditionally transferred to the ownership of the male head of the family. Cultural and social barriers to women's integration into agricultural programs are high, especially since in many countries their own income generation is seen as a threat to male authority. While men are introduced to new methods that increase productivity, women are taught (if such programs are conducted at all) traditional activities (sewing, cooking, or basic hygiene). More than 90% of working women in India are employed in the informal economy, which is not reflected in official statistics [Dunlop and Velkoff, 1999, p. 2].

The many types of work that women have to perform make it difficult to determine their share in the production of products, and even more so the economic assessment of their work. However, it is clear that women's work is undervalued. In India, 31% of rural women were registered as working in 1961. In 1971, this figure was 16%, in 1981 it rose to 23%, and in 1991 it fell to 22% [Menon-Sen and Kumar, 2001, p. 54]. This is due to a terminology issue. In the 1961 census, everyone employed in any economically productive field within 15 days prior to the census was considered employed. In the case of seasonal work, such as agricultural-

page 94

For example, if you had a job or work in a home factory, all those who claimed to work regularly for 1 hour a day for most of the working season were considered employed. In the 1971 census, people were considered employed only if they indicated that their "main employment" was economically productive work. Women employed in the domestic industry and engaged in domestic work were not counted because they were employed "part-time".

In the 1981 census, a distinction was made between" core "and" marginal " workers. Those who worked for six months or more during the previous year were recorded as "core employees". A large number of women who were employed in seasonal agricultural production fell into the category of "marginal workers".

In the 2001 census, an attempt was made to include the work of women and children, but, of course, the work of women and girls who do housework in their own homes was still left out. In India, a woman can go to work if the financial situation of the family is unfavorable, but after the situation normalizes, she is forced to stay at home again, because this is an indicator of the higher status of the family.

Legalizing the informal sectors of the economy, where most women are employed, can help to raise their economic status. The low status of women has both ethical and long-term economic consequences. In the long run, the deterioration of the economic situation of women can lead to a decline in economic growth, since the level of education and the future financial condition of children are more determined by the economic situation of the mother than the father. The ongoing cost of involving women in the development process will have a return on improving the quality of "human capital" in the future. Despite the measures taken by the Government of India to eliminate discrimination against women, the power of tradition in society remains strong.

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