The ‘Save the girl child’ campaign, which is gaining steam all over the country, looks like it is finally making inroads - at least in urban areas. A survey conducted across eight major cities in India, including Chennai, states that 77 per cent of expectant parents have no gender preference for the child. The survey, which covered 391 couples expecting children, was conducted by Cryo-Save India, which is the Indian arm of Europe’s largest family stem cell banking company. Add to this another finding of the survey that states that 50 per cent of the couples want only one child. This is a far cry from the days when couples went on trying for a baby until a male baby was born. S Vidyakar, founder of city-based NGO Udavum Karangal, which works for the upliftment of underprivileged children, says, “The earlier notion that a girl child was a burden is slowly disappearing now, not only in urban areas, but in rural areas as well. Parents now think daughters are more trustworthy, as they will stick to them in their old days, whereas sons might quarrel over property and might even ditch them.” Data from the 2011 census also reveal a happy picture of this turnaround. The sex ratio for urban areas jumped from 900 women per 1,000 men in 2001 to 926 in 2011. In rural areas, the sex ratio increased nominally from 946 to 947 for the same period. The sex ratio in urban areas has been on a rise since 1961, when it was 861. Although the increase in sex ratio in urban areas is a welcome change, what has come to the forefront is the challenges that new age parents are facing when it comes to balancing their personal life with parenthood. So much so that 55 per cent of couples were open to employing external help in the first six months after the child’s birth to assist them in raising the child.However, Dr R Somasekar, a professor of pediatrics at the Madras Medical College, says, “I don’t think external help is required during the first six months, because maternity leave has now been extended for up to six months for government staff. Only in exceptional cases, I would suggest someone to go for external help, but emphasis must be put on breast feeding in the first six months.” Earlier, motherhood and home care for most urban woman gained prominence over a career. But currently, only 37 per cent of mothers said they would quit their jobs for rearing a child. In contrast, only two per cent fathers said they would consider taking such a step. Saundarya Rajesh, who runs AVTAR-I-WIN, a portal that provides flexible job opportunities to women, however, says career-oriented woman, who have to quit jobs due to motherhood, need not worry anymore as there are a lot of corporates out there looking to hire women on a flexible and part-time basis. “Today, companies are more open to the fact that breaks in women’s careers become inevitable sometimes. Hence, if you are persistent and are able to manage your home front successfully, a career is surely waiting for you,” she says.
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