The infant mortality rates of Kerala may be divided by the India infant mortality rates to produce a ratio displayed in the bar graph below showing a more or less static relationship of the decline of infant mortlity rates of India and Kerala within India for the first 60 years.  At this point the IMR for Kerala began a rapid decline increasing the ratio to 5 times by 1993.  The several technological imporvements, begining with western medicine and public education, introduced in India after indepence began to have a measurable effect after 1960.  These technologal effects improved the well-being in Kerala at a much faster rate than in all India.  The only factor available to explain this rapid well-being imporvement in Kerala (as conrasted to India) is the suppession of women (lack of gender equity) in all India.  That is, we have evidence here of a beneficial synergistic effect between the introduction technolical improvements and gender equity.  The significant difference between Kerala and India was the support of female skills in Kerala and the suppression of female skills in India, skills called mother management.

Data from Table 10 of Ramachandran.

(Directory)  March 20, 2000