Q119 · UPPSC Prelims 2021 · Set D · General Studies

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With reference to 'birth rate' which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?1.Urbanization helps in reducing the birth rate.2.High literacy rate is directly related to low birth rate.Select the correct answer using the codes given below Code:

A Only 1
B Only 2
C Both 1 and 2
D Neither 1 nor 2

Correct answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Explanation

  1. A

    Only 1

    Only 1 would drop statement 2. Urbanisation does help lower birth rates (costs, housing, female work, later marriage), but high literacy is also directly associated with lower fertility in demographic transition. Both statements are kept by the key, so ‘only 1’ is incomplete.

  2. B

    Only 2

    Only 2 would drop urbanisation. Literacy and female education are strongly linked to low birth rate, yet urbanisation is an independent, well-documented depressant of fertility. Statement 1 is not false.

  3. C

    Both 1 and 2

    (c) Official key: Both statements are correct. Urbanisation tends to reduce birth rates through higher living costs, nuclear households and greater female workforce participation. High literacy, especially female literacy, is directly related to lower fertility via delayed marriage, contraception and smaller desired family size. Neither statement is discarded.

  4. D

    Neither 1 nor 2

    Neither 1 nor 2 would deny two standard demographic-transition links. Both urbanisation and literacy are textbook correlates of falling birth rates. This option contradicts the evidence used in this paper.

Summary. Official key is (c). Birth rate falls with urbanisation and with high literacy; both statements describe those links. ‘Only 1’ or ‘only 2’ each omits a true mechanism. The keyed choice is both 1 and 2.