A cross-national study of the effect of intercaste marriage on fertility in India and the United States.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was 1) to determine the effects of intercaste marriages on fertility in India (high-low caste marriage) and the United States (white-black marriage); and 2) to compare the demographic characteristics of intercaste married couples in India and the United States. The sample consisted of 366 intercaste and intracaste married couples in India and the U.S. The data revealed that in both countries intercaste married couples had a significantly lower number of children than intracaste married couples at .001 level of significance (as between Brahmin or Chamar subcaste in India and as between whites and whites and between blacks and blacks in the U.S.). In both countries, high caste husband-low caste wife had more children (India 1.8, U.S. 1.5) than high caste wife-low caste husband (India 1.5, U.S. 1.1). The main conclusion was that intercaste marriages produced fewer children than intracaste marriages in India and the U.S. Additional demographic and socio-psychological factors which contributed to a lower number of children in both countries were: age difference at the time of marriage, educational achievement level of husband and wife, rural or urban place of origin, fear of caste or racial discrimination, and acceptance of the children by the family and the community.