Volume 25 - Article 17 | Pages 545–564  

The potential impact of intermarriage on the population decline of the Parsis of Mumbai, India

By Zubin Shroff, Márcia C. Castro

Abstract

The Parsis, a community of Iranian descent, are an important ethno-religious minority group in India. Over the past few decades this group has shown a sharp numerical decline. The Parsis in India are endogamous and children of women married outside the community are traditionally not accepted within the fold. This paper appraises the potential role of female intermarriage in Parsi population decline. Population projections were made under various assumptions of fertility and inter-marriage scenarios. Results show that given current fertility, acceptance of children of intermarried women would have a negligible impact on stemming the population decline, which is chiefly driven by extremely low fertility.

Author's Affiliation

• Zubin Shroff - Harvard University, United States of America EMAIL
• Márcia C. Castro - Harvard University, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Space, race, and poverty: Spatial inequalities in walkable neighborhood amenities?
Volume 26 - Article 17

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Educational trends in cohort fertility by birth order: A comparison of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
Volume 51 - Article 36    | Keywords: birth order, cohort analysis, cross-national study, England, family size, fertility, Northern Ireland, parity, Scotland, Wales

Interracial couples and intergenerational coresidence: Interracial couples who provide housing assistance to their aging parents
Volume 51 - Article 35    | Keywords: ethnic inequality, intergenerational coresidence, intermarriage, racial inequality

Higher incomes are increasingly associated with higher fertility: Evidence from the Netherlands, 2008–2022
Volume 51 - Article 26    | Keywords: fertility, income, inequalities, Netherlands, parenthood

The short- and long-term determinants of fertility in Uruguay
Volume 51 - Article 10    | Keywords: fertility, panel data, stages of female reproductive life, time series, Uruguay

The big decline: Lowest-low fertility in Uruguay (2016–2021)
Volume 50 - Article 16    | Keywords: adolescent fertility, birth order, fertility, Latin America, ultra-low fertility, Uruguay