Working Mothers In Urban India Avoid Going For A Second Child 

Kolkata: Around 35 per cent working mothers in urban India avoid going for a second child owing to the increasing expenditure and the need to devote more time and energy in taking care of parents and raising kids, according to a survey done by leading industry body Assocham.

The random survey, conducted by Assocham Social Development Foundation, finds that over 500 respondents do not want to have second child, while many say that they hesitate in order not to jeopardise their job or promotion prospect if they take another maternity leave. The survey was carried out in 10 cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai during the course of the past one month to find out how much time working mothers generally spent with their son or daughter and their plans to have or not to have another child and the reason for it.

"The stress associated with modern marriage, job pressure and cost of raising children are the key reasons why many mothers want to put a stop after their first child and decide not to add to their family," according to the random survey of 1,500 working mothers of only children. Favouritism is another important reason why many respondents say that they do not want another child to ensure that attention does not get divided, the survey reveals. The government should provide certain supportive measures such as reducing taxes for families with a single child, so that the single-child policy can be better carried out, many of the respondents felt.