The family and demographic change in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has almost completed the demographic transition with low mortality rates and fertility rates approaching replacement levels. Sri Lanka shares these characteristics with the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in contrast to elsewhere in South Asia where mortality and especially fertility rates remain much higher. A key part of the explanation for these differences lies in the nature of the family. The Sri Lankan family is essentially the conjugal unit of husband, wife and dependent children whereas in northern South Asia agnatic relations between son and parents are central to family structure. Related to this family system the position of women in Sri Lankan society was relatively high in South Asian terms. Consequently women had a…