Fertility in Bangladesh: Facts and Fancies

Abstract

Summary Based on data from a 1969 national fertility survey in Bangladesh, the crude birth rate was estimated at 42, with estimates for urban residents slightly lower than those for rural residents The total marital fertility rate was found to be 6·93. For women over 40 years of age the average cumulative number of live births was 6·5, with 4·7 surviving at the time of interview (72 per cent) The infant mortality rate for 1966–68 was 113, which appears to be somewhat under-reported when compared with estimates made by other investigators. There is no indication from the survey findings of a structural change in the age of marriage. Analysis of the pregnancy history indicates a statistically significant decline in all age-specific fertility rates — about ten per cent over the period 1960–68. However, the cohort fertility rates indicate that recent cohorts have experienced higher fertility at younger ages than their predecessors. Our estimates are higher than others (e g by the Cholera Research Laboratory f...