Improving the Status of Indian Women: Recent Wrong-Headed Policies

Abstract

We begin with a historical perspective on the status of women in India and consider ways of improving it. Since the ratio of male to female births in India exceeds 0.5 some groups have successfully persuaded the Indian government to ban the use of sonograms to determine the sex of the fetus, even during the first trimester. I argue that this policy will worsen the status of women and will have several other unintended consequences and externalities due to worsening of the overpopulation problem in India and global warming. I include legislative initiatives to reduce size of the dowry, which is the main cause of discrimination against women in India.

Keywords: overpopulation, legislation, dowry, law of demand

JEL Classification: N34, O15, O20