Chapter-3 Socio-Economic Background of the Respondents The focus on socio-economic background is crucial to understand the multiple factors that impact on women’s reproductive health behaviour and preferences for health care. The educational qualification together and economic background determines how an individual looks at health and how his/her health behaviour will be. Hence the present chapter is aimed to portray the socio-economic background of the respondents, which is here measured in term of their age-group, marital status, religion, type of family, number of family members, language known, educational qualification of the respondents and the father/spouse of the respondents, occupation of the respondents and the father/spouse of the respondents, type of house, household consumption pattern, cultivated land, quantity of land, type of land ownership, monthly household income. The study is focused on 300 respondents in two settings out of which half of the respondents (150) are from the rural setting i.e. Heinoubok village and other half of the respondents are from the urban setting i.e. Nagamapal . Age group The age of the respondents are categorized into three age groups viz- 1) 16-25 years, 2) 26-35 years, and 3) 36-45 years. Equal numbers of respondents (33.3 percent) are taken from all the three age groups in both the settings. Out of the 300 respondents half of the respondents are Meitei married women (150) while remaining half of the respondents (150) are unmarried Meitei women. Religion Religion tends to be an important characteristic as it is often knotted with customs and tradition. Meitei society can be broadly classified into two different religious sections-one section consists of those who follow Sanamahi religion, and another consists of those who have adopted Hinduism. The distribution of the respondents into these categories is shown in Table-3.1 46 Table-3.1: Religion followed by the respondents Religion Rural (Heinoubok) Urban (Nagamapal) Total F % f % f % Hinduism 124 82.7 131 87.3 255 85 Sanamahism 26 17.3 19 12.7 45 15 Total 150 100 150 100 300 100 Source: Field Data * Sanamahism is the worship of Sanamahi, the Creator aspect of Sidaba Mapu, the trinity God of the Meeteis. Sanamahism is one of the oldest sects of South Asia. It originated in Manipur, India and is mainly practiced by the Meeteis, Kabui, Zeliangrong and other communities who inhabit Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Myanmar and Bangladesh, with small population in United Kingdom, United States and Canada. * f = Frequency , % = Percentage The data reveals that from the sample size taken for the study, majority (85 percent) of the respondents are practicing Hinduism and remaining 15 percent of the respondents practice Sanamahi¹ religion. The segregation of the data into rural and urban setting reveals almost identical picture as in both the settings majority of the respondents (Rural-82.7percent, Urban-87.3percent) are following Hinduism. Language known Language is the method of human communication and is an integral part of culture and society. It is a complex and open system that allows for innovation, modification and evolution. To know the status of the knowledge of different languages, the respondents are categorized into four categories–1) Manipuri 2) Manipuri + Hindi, 3) Manipuri +English and 4) Manipuri +English + Hindi. The distribution of the respondents into these categories is shown in Table-3.2 47 Table- 3.2 Language known by the respondents Language Rural Urban Total (Heinoubok) (Nagamapal) f % f % f % Manipuri (meiteilon) 92 61.3 28 18.7 120 40 Manipuri+Hindi 4 2.7 1 0.7 5 1.7 Manipuri+English 36 24 31 20.7 67 22.3 Manipuri+Hindi+English 18 12 90 60 108 36 Total 150 100 150 100 300 100 Source: Field Data The data reveals that 40 percent of the respondents know only their mother tongue i.e. Manipuri, 36 percent of the respondents are multilingual as they know Manipuri, Hindi and English followed by 22.7 percent of the respondents who are bilingual as they know Manipuri and English, and the rest 1.7 percent of the respondents know both Manipuri and Hindi. In urban setting most of the respondents are multilingual (Rural- 12 percent, Urban- 60 percent) who know Manipuri, Hindi and English and in rural setting most of the respondents (Rural- 18.7 percent, Urban 61.3 percent) know only their mother tongue. Educational qualification of the respondents One of the biggest disappointments with India’s development has been education. Education can be a great lever to make a difference and an en route for successful addressal of health related issues. On the basis of the educational qualification of the respondents, they are classified into eight categories v.i.z. 1) Illiterate, 2) Primary, 3) High school, 4) Higher secondary, 5) Graduate. 6) Post-graduate 7) Technical 8) Professional. The distribution of the respondents into these categories is shown in table-3. 48 Table-3.3: Educational qualification of the respondents Qualification Rural Urban Total (Heinoubok) (Nagamapal) F % f % f % Illiterate 11 7.3 2 1.3 13 4.3 Primary school 8 5.3 2 1.3 10 3.3 High school 89 59.3 48 32 137 45.7 Higher 27 18 49 32.7 76 25.3 secondary Graduate 9 6 37 24.7 46 15.3 Post graduate 6 4 5 3.3 11 3.7 Technical 0 0 5 3.3 5 1.7 Professional 0 0 2 1.3 2 0.7 Total 150 100 150 100 300 100 Source: Field Data The data shows that majority (95.7 percent) of the respondents are literate. Among them 45.7 percent of the respondents have a high school degree, followed by 25.7 percent of the respondents who are educated up to higher secondary, 15.3 percent of the respondents are qualified up to graduate level, 3.7 percent of the respondents are post graduates, 3.3 percent of the respondents are educated up to primary level, 1.7 percent of the respondent have technical degree and only 0.7 percent of the respondents are professionals. Hence the qualification of the respondents can be observe that most of them are concentrated in high school to graduate level degree. Their number diminishes as they move above graduation level and below high school level. But there is a noticeable disparity in the educational qualification of the respondents in rural and urban settings. In rural setting the major concentration of the respondents is in high school level (59.3 percent), though a considerable number (18 percent) of them also have higher secondary degree, but as they move above higher secondary level and below high school level their number decreases. In urban setting the major concentration of the respondents is shared by high school, higher secondary and graduate degree holders. Hence it can be observed that the urban setting is performing better than the rural setting as far as their educational qualification is concerned. 49 Qualification of the father/spouse of the respondents On the basis of the educational qualification of the father/spouse respondents, they are classified into seven categories viz., 1) Primary, 2) High school, 3) Higher secondary, 4) Graduate 5) Post-graduate 6) Technical 7) Professional. The distribution of the respondents into these categories is shown table-3.4 Table-3.4: Qualification of the father/spouse* of the respondents Qualification Rural Urban Total (Heinoubok) (Nagamapal) f % f % f % Primary school 10 6.7 4 2.7 14 4.7 High school 87 58 38 25.3 125 41.7 Higher 28 18.7 35 23.3 63 21 secondary Graduate 19 12.7 48 32 67 22.3 Post graduate 1 0.7 13 8.7 14 4.7 Technical 0 0 6 4 6 2 Professional 5 3.3 6 4 11 3.7 Total 150 100 150 100 300 100 Source: Field Data * Father/Spouse: Data of father is collected from unmarried respondents and Spouse’ statistics is collected from married respondents. Cent percent of the respondents’ father/spouse are literate. Nearly half of the respondents’ father/spouse are educated up to high school, followed by 22.3 percent who have a graduate level degree, little more than one –fifth (21 percent) are educated up to higher secondary, 4.7 percent each are educated up to post-graduate and primary level, 3.7 percent are educated up to professional level and 2 percent are educated up to technical respectively. Hence the data regarding the qualification of the respondents’ father/spouse reveals that like the respondents themselves most of educational qualifications of their father/spouse too are concentrated in high school to graduate level degree. Their number diminishes as they move above graduation level and below high school level. Again a noticeable disparity can be observed in the educational qualification of the father/spouse of the respondents’ family in both rural and urban settings. In rural 50 setting the major concentration of the father/spouse of the respondents is in high school level (58 percent), though a considerable number (18.7 percent) of them also have higher secondary and graduate degree (12.7 percent), but as they move above higher secondary level and below high school level their number decreases. In urban setting the major concentration of the father/spouse of the respondents is shared by graduates, higher secondary and high school degree holders. Hence the urban setting is again accomplishing better than the rural setting as far as the educational qualification of the father/spouse of the respondents’ is concerned. Occupation of the respondents In traditional Indian society, household is the domain of work for most of the women.