India is experiencing profound demographic changes and consequent shifts in the population age structure, though, unlike the experience of other countries, its demographic change is unique and unconventional. While declining fertility rates are often seen as a boost to women's empowerment, there are growing concerns about their impact on gender equity in India, including worsening sex ratios. One notable effect of this demographic shift is the rapid increase in the older population, particularly widows, who face heightened vulnerability shaped by cultural norms. This talk explores two key aspects of India's demographic changes: first, how fertility shifts have affected gender equity, and second, by estimating the economic value of widows, why we must move beyond cultural explanations to understand the vulnerability of widows in India.

K S James possesses extensive research and teaching experience in the field of Demography. He was formerly the Director and Senior Professor of the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India. His work examines the interaction of socio-economic and policy forces on demographic factors, including fertility, marriage, gender and ageing in India.  He has several books and articles in his credit including papers in Science, Lancet Global Health, BMC Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, JAMA Network Open, Population Studies and Journal of Demographic Economics. He holds a postdoctoral training from Harvard Centre for Population and Development, Harvard University, USA and Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a visiting fellow in many prestigious institutes and universities including Harvard University, USA; London School of Economics, UK; International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), Austria; University of Southampton, UK and University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Lunch will be served.