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Study blames Indian inheritance law reforms for spike in female foeticide
Why in news?
- According to a new study, India’s discriminatory and anti-women inheritance laws appear to have failed to mitigate society’s long-held preference for sons.
- Supported by the Economic Survey 2017-18, which found an estimated 63 million women, roughly the population of the UK is missing in India.
More in news
Son-biased fertility stopping behavior:
- No of change of law between 1970 to 1990 has inadvertently led to increased female foeticide rates.
- It analyzed that families desires for a second child if the first child was a girl.
- The researchers studied families living in five “early-reformer” states-Kerala, AP, TN, Maharashtra and Karnataka allowed equal inheritance rights for women and men, at different dates between 1970 and 1990.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
- Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, only sons had a direct right to ancestral property, excluding daughters from inheritance claims where the father did not leave a will.
- From the 1970s onwards, changes in inheritance legislation sought to empower women by strengthening their financial and social position and reducing dependence on male relatives.
Why women remain dispossessed?
- Changes to inheritance law are not likely to improve women’s income, since it’s unlikely the woman would get to control that new asset.
- There also remains a strong incentive for parents to continue rewarding a son who works on and develops a family’s land, thus contributing to the family’s wealth creation and security for both parties later in life.
Source
Indian Express