Status of Women in Kerala- A macro level Analysis

Volume : IV, Issue : III, March - 2015

Hima Hari . U

 Kerala, the tiny state in the Southwest corner of the Indian peninsula, has received worldwide attention for its unique 

development experience which is often called as Kerala Model of Development. The uniqueness of the Kerala model 

lies in the high social development with a low percapita income. Kerala has made significant achievements in the field 

of educational and Health sectors which is almost comparable to that of developed countries. Moreover, Kerala has been quite different from 

the rest of the country in terms of the indicators of women development. Kerala has a favourable sex ratio of 1084 in 2011. Similarly in terms of 

literacy, life expectancy, and mean age at marriage, women in Kerala score higher than any other state in the country. The main objective of this 

paper is to examine the status of women in Kerala by analyzing the literacy rate and Female Work Participation rate on the basis of Census Data. 

However, in spite of the outstanding achievements in the Human Development and Gender Equality indicators, Kerala lags behind other states 

in terms of women empowerment especially in terms of the rate of women work participation.