Fertility In Bangladesh Research Articles

The determinants of first and subsequent births in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh

This study identifies the determinants of the probability of having subsequent births among rural and urban women in Bangladesh. Data were obtained from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey among a 2-stage sample of 11,905 ever-married women aged 10-49 years. 8466 lived in rural areas; 3439 lived in urban areas. Analysis relied on tabular analysis, nonparametric survival analysis, and Cox proportional hazard regression models. The dependent variable is birth intervals in single months at different parities up to 144 months. Explanatory variables are demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and decision-making ones and period effects. Findings reveal that different factors affected first births and higher order births. The subsequent births to women in rural areas were affected by more factors. Some variables consistently affected all subsequent births, while others had other impacts. For example, education increased the risk of having a first birth, but decreased the risk of subsequent births. Husband's education was a significant factor in first births and insignificant in higher order births. The period effect was significant for all births. Findings confirm that fertility is recent and stronger in urban areas and will continue to decline. Greater urbanization is likely to lower fertility. Risk of subsequent births was related to work experience. Religion was significant in higher order births in rural areas, but it was insignificant in urban areas. Residence in Dhaka resulted in a lower risk of a first birth compared with Chittagong region. Rural regions had lower risk of higher order births than Chittagong region. Son preference was not a significant factor.

Infant and child mortality determinants in Bangladesh: are they changing?

From the data of the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey, aggregate deaths reported at ages 0-12 and 13-60 months are used to estimate infant and child mortality. Multivariate analysis shows that preceding birth interval length, followed by survival status of the immediately preceding child, are the most important factors associated with differential infant and child mortality risks; sex of the index child and mother's and father's education are also significant. Demographic factors are influential during infancy as well as childhood, but social factors, particularly mother's and father's education, now emerge as significant predictors of infant mortality risks. This indicates a change in the role of socioeconomic factors, since the earlier Bangladesh Fertility Survey in 1975.

Socioeconomic development, status of women, family planning, and fertility in Bangladesh: a district level analysis.

In this paper we examine the effects of socioeconomic development, the status of women, and family planning on fertility and the extent to which these effects vary among the nineteen districts of Bangladesh. The 1983 and 1991 Bangladesh Contraceptive Prevalence Survey data are used to examine the effects of these factors on differences in contraceptive use among currently married women aged 15-49. The proportion of currently married women aged 15-49 using contraception was 46.3 per cent in 1991, a considerable increase from 26.5 per cent in 1983. Contraceptive use rates for all the districts increased substantially over the period between 1983 and 1991 and the gap between Dhaka's rate and those of other districts was narrower in 1991 than in 1983. An analytical model composed of socioeconomic development, status of women, and family planning variables is tested using logistic regression. The logit model is used to evaluate the effects of a selected group of variables on the probability of using contraceptive methods. The analysis demonstrates clearly that socioeconomic development and women's status significantly impact the use of contraceptive methods in Bangladesh. The results also suggest that better-educated, employed women are more likely to use contraception than those who have little or no formal education and who are not employed. In 1983, rural-urban differences in contraceptive use were significant, but in 1991 area of residence was not significant, which suggests that family planning programs may have played an important role in providing contraceptive information and technology to rural areas. Our analysis also suggests that family planning programs operated more efficiently in some districts than in others, and regional differences remained important in 1991 as they were in 1983. Decomposition analysis suggests that shifts in population structure favored increased contraceptive use in Bangladesh. This analysis also indicates that change in rate is also important, contributing about 21 per cent of the overall increase in contraceptive use.

The Poverty–Purdah Trap in Rural Bangladesh: Implications for Women's Roles in the Family

Trends in poverty, working through changing roles of women in income generation, have been advanced as one explanation of changing fertility in Bangladesh. This paper examines women's work patterns in two rural villages in northern Bangladesh and finds little evidence of increasing workforce participation, despite high contraceptive use rates. Observation of women's work patterns suggests that purdah, the practice of female seclusion, influences and conditions women's decisions regarding roles they assume, and remains a dominant influence in women's lives, showing little evidence of responsiveness to poverty.

Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy and Fertility Change in South Asia.

Schooling as Contraception? - Roger Jeffery and Alaka M Basu Girls' Schooling, Autonomy and Fertility Change - Alaka M Basu What Do These Words Mean in South Asia? Maternal Schooling and Fertility - John Cleland and Shireen Jejeebhoy Evidence from Censuses and Surveys Educational Attainment, Status Production and Women's Autonomy - Karuna Chanana A Study of Two Generations of Punjabi Women in New Delhi Women's Schooling and Autonomy as Factors in Fertility Change in Pakistan - Zeba A Sathar Some Empirical Evidence What's the Benefit of Being Educated? Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy and Fertility Outcomes in Bijnor - Patricia Jeffery and Roger Jeffery Female Education and Fertility in Bangladesh - Sajeda Amin The Influence of Marriage and the Family Links between Fertility Regulation and the Schooling and Autonomy of Women in Bangladesh - John Cleland, Nashid Kamal and Andrew Sloggett Against the Odds - Carol Vlassoff The Changing Impact of Schooling on Female Autonomy and Fertility in an Indian Village Regional Variations in Female Autonomy and Fertility and Contraception in India - Leela Visaria Female Autonomy and Reproductive Behaviour in Kerala - S Irudaya Rajan, Mala Ramanathan and U S Mishra New Evidence from the Recent Kerala Fertility Survey Female Education, Autonomy and Fertility in Sri Lanka - Bruce Caldwell

A multilevel modelling approach to the determinants of urban and rural fertility in Bangladesh

When a data set is generated from a country-wide survey, it is important to test it to determine whether or not fertility variations are due to the structure of the data. Generally, small area data are more or less homogeneous in nature. This observation is supported by Garner and Diamond (1988) who pointed out that individuals who share similar characteristics related to fertility behaviour, such as living in the same geographical area, are likely to act in a similar fashion. There may be fertility variations between small areas in Bangladesh, but these have been generally ignored in previous studies (see, for example, Islam and Khan, 1991, 1995; Khan and Raeside, 1994; Amin and others, 1995).

Factors affecting the most recent fertility rates in urban-rural Bangladesh

This paper reports on a study which has been undertaken using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS) to determine the significance of influences on the probability of birth in the year preceding the survey. In the survey a total of 11 905 ever-married women of reproductive age were asked a battery of questions relating to fertility aspects of women. Variables selected in this study were grouped into demographic, socio-economic, cultural and decision-making variables. Findings from the study indicate that the mother's age, whether contraception has ever been used, the death of a child at any time, whether the woman has ever worked, religion, region of residence, and female independence are the important covariates for explaining recent fertility in Bangladesh. Models are developed for the probabilities of a woman giving birth in urban and rural areas, dependent on her demographic and socio-economic conditions. Also developed are models for contraceptive use in urban-rural Bangladesh. This modelling contributes to a better understanding of fertility changes in Bangladesh and the differentials between urban and rural fertility. It is indicated that a continued fertility decline is likely.

A hierarchical model of contraceptive use in urban and rural Bangladesh

In this paper, a model is developed for examining the hierarchical effects of contraceptive use and its determinants in urban-rural Bangladesh by employing data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS). In the survey, a total of 11,905 ever-married women of reproductive age were interviewed in urban and rural situations. An investigation has been carried out in this study using a set of demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and decision-making variables. A number of new findings emerge from this study. It has been found that contraceptive use has no significant variation between regions; however, a statistically significant variation exists between the blocks (census tracts) of Bangladesh. Findings also indicate that mother's parity, her education, family planning decisions, and female independence score are found to have a significant positive effect on the use of contraception in urban and rural Bangladesh, whereas child death has a significant negative influence. Religion and work experience of women are found to have little effect on contraceptive use. The findings of the study indicate priority points for policy purposes.

The influence of women's changing roles and status in Bangladesh's fertility transition: Evidence from a study of credit programs and contraceptive use

Multivariate analyses of data from a recent study in rural Bangladesh suggest that women's access to credit provided by two organizations, Grameen Bank and BRAC, augments use of contraception. This effect increases with the duration of the women's involvement in the credit programs. Although three of eight measures of women's empowerment have statistically significant effects on contraceptive use (women's economic security and contribution to family support, freedom of mobility, and relative freedom from domination by the family), these variables account for surprisingly little of the effect of credit on contraceptive use. The authors present qualitative data describing how the credit programs empower women, and speculate about other paths through which participation in them may influence contraceptive use.

Breast-feeding in Bangladesh: Patterns and impact on fertility

Data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey and actuarial life table methods are used to estimate breast feeding differences by other socioeconomic, health, and demographic characteristics. Findings indicate that the average breast feeding duration for surviving children was 28.2 months (27.1 months for urban women and 28.6 months for rural women). Breast feeding duration was longer among mothers with no schooling compared to mothers or fathers with a higher education. Older mothers had different breast feeding patterns than younger mothers. Muslim women breast fed for 28.1 months; non-Muslim women did so for 18.8 months. Working women breast fed for 19.0 months compared to 28.1 months among non-working women. Duration of breast feeding increased with increased parity. Breast feeding duration averaged 17.5 months among wives of service workers and business men, 28.3 months among wives of production workers, and 29.0 and 27.9, respectively, for wives of farmers and land-owners. Contraceptive use was unrelated to breast feeding duration. Women who possessed specific household items had a shorter breast feeding period. Women who were visited by health workers had a longer breast feeding duration. There were only marginal differences between durations by whether husbands controlled health decision making or whether there was joint decision making. Gender was unrelated to duration. Differences in the significance between variables and survival are reported. Multivariate findings among women who ceased breast feeding indicate that breast feeding had a positive significant effect on amenorrhea and directly determined both closed and open birth intervals. The effect of breast feeding on amenorrhea was stronger in the closed interval. Breast feeding explained 18.9% of variation in postpartum amenorrhea (9.8% in the current open interval). 86.9% of the variance was explained by place of residence, maternal education and age, parity, maternal work status, and every use of contraception.

Women's Lives in Transition: A Qualitative Analysis of the Fertility Decline in Bangladesh

The fertility decline that began in Bangladesh in the late 1980s and continues has prompted diverse theories to explain it. In this qualitative analysis of 21 focus-group sessions with rural women ranging in age from the teens to late 40s and living in the villages of the Matlab area, the women's perceptions of their changing society and of the influence of the family planning program are examined. The women's statements reveal their awareness of the social and economic transition they are undergoing and their interest in family-size limitation, which is bolstered by a strong family planning program. Although the shifts in economic and social circumstances are not large, in conjunction with the strong family planning program they constitute a powerful force for change in attitudes, ideas, and behavior among these women.

Marriage patterns and some issues related to adolescent marriage in Bangladesh

Data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey are used to examine marriage patterns among adolescents, factors associated with adolescent marriage, and socioeconomic characteristics of married adolescents. Findings indicate that 100% of females married before the age of 30 years. The proportion of those never married increased after 1974 and among females aged 10-14 years and 15-19 years. The proportion of those never married increased from 73.4% to 95.8% among women aged 10-14 years and from 11.3% to 48.6% among women aged 15-19 years. In 1989 only 4% were married after age 20. 55% of total marriages occurred among women aged 13-15 years. 80% of total marriages occurred under 16 years of age. The highest mean age of marriage was found among women aged 20-29 years at the time of the survey. 63.9% of women who married before the age of 20 years married after menarche, 18.1% married before menarche, and 18.0% married during menarche. The average age at menarche was 13.4 years. 13.9% of marriages were dissolved among women who married before the age of 20 years, and 46% remarried. 8.5% of marriages were dissolved among ever married women who married after the age of 20 years, and only 24.4% remarried. Teenage marriage was more prevalent in rural areas and in Dhaka division, followed by Rajshahi division. About 70% of married adolescents were illiterate or had no formal education, and almost 86% did not work outside the home. Only 26% of married adolescents had husbands with more than a primary education. Marriages took place earlier among families with some land. 92.6% of married adolescents lived in poorly constructed housing. Logistic findings indicate that female education was closely associated with an increased chance of adolescent marriage. Low age at marriage was also influenced strongly by husband's occupation. Regional differences were significant covariates.

Dramatic Recent Decline in Fertility in Bangladesh Is Matched by Substantial Rise in Contraceptive Use

Some findings from the 1993-94 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey are reported. The total fertility rate was 3.4 children per woman. Contraceptive use rose over 20 years to 45% of married women aged 10-49 years. Almost 50% of women desired an end to childbearing. 12% were sterilized or infertile. Marriage age rose. Only 30% of women aged 15-19 were married before the age of 15 years compared to 77% of women aged 45-49 years. Although the median age at marriage was still low at 14.4 years urban women married at 15.4 years. Women with some secondary education married two years later (17.1 years) than women who had completed primary school (14.7 years). 27% of women aged 15-19 years had a child and 6% were pregnant. The median age at first birth rose since 1975 from 16.8 to 18.3 years. Over 80% of women wanted to space births or to stop childbearing. 56% of ever married women preferred two children. 24% desired 3 children and 10% wanted 4 children. About 33% of births in the three years preceding the survey were unplanned. Contraceptive prevalence was highest among currently married women aged 35-39 years. 19% of married women had an unmet need for family planning. 66% of married women who did not currently use contraception planned to do so within the year. 42% of modern method users obtained supplies from village-level field workers who numbered 35000. 38% of modern method users obtained supplies from government sources. Only about 19% of births in the three years before the survey received prenatal care from a doctor. About 7% received care from a midwife nurse or family welfare visitor. 96% of births were delivered at home. 60% of births were delivered by a birth attendant and 29% were delivered by a relative. Child mortality during 1989-93 was 133 per 1000 live births. Infant mortality was 87 deaths per 1000 live births. The mean of exclusive breast feeding was 4.6 months.

Adolescent contraceptive use and its determinants in Bangladesh: Evidence from Bangladesh Fertility Survey 1989

This study is concerned with contraceptive use among the currently married adolescents in Bangladesh utilizing the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS) data. The study analyzes the factors affecting the current use of contraception among the adolescents through bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that although adolescents have almost universal knowledge about contraceptive methods, only 15 percent are currently using any method of contraception. The corresponding figures for the adults and for the nation as a whole are 34.4 percent and 31.4 percent, respectively. Among the individual methods currently used by the adolescents, the pill appears as the most popular method, followed by safe period. A substantial proportion of the adolescents were found to rely on the traditional methods of contraception. Among the socio-economic variables (as revealed by the logistic regression analysis), respondents' education, participation in the family planning decision, visit by family planning workers, region of residence, husband's occupation and possession of electricity in the household appear as the most significant factors determining the current use of contraception among the adolescents.

Access to Family Planning Workers Facilitates Choice Of Modern over Traditional Methods in Bangladesh

Analysis of data collected as part of the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Study which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 11906 ever-married women under 50 years of age indicated that 31% were current contraceptive users. 23% were using a modern method. Variables associated with above-average rates of modern method use were urban residence (39%) higher education on the part of the wife (38%) or husband (30%) electricity in the home (34%) family size of 3-4 children (31%) marriage duration of 10-19 years (31%) 25-34 year age group (30%) children of both sexes (29%) and visits from a family planning worker (29%). In contrast the use of traditional methods was strongly associated with wanting no more children (13%) an upper primary education (13%) non-Muslim religious affiliation (12%) the 35-49 year age group (11%) and a marriage duration of 20 years or more (11%). Linear logistic regression analysis of the impact of 15 such variables on contraceptive method chosen revealed that duration of marriage exerted a strong independent effect as did contact with a family planning worker religion electricity in the home number of living children and spousal discussions about family planning. Women who said family planning decisions were made jointly were 50% more likely to use a modern method than those whose husbands made this decision. These findings suggest that increased contact with family planning workers especially among non-Muslim women and wives of poorly educated men could enhance use of modern contraceptive methods. Also important are interventions such as income generation that increase womens status and likelihood of participating in family planning decision making.

Infant and child mortality levels and trends in Bangladesh.

Infant and child mortality levels and trends in Bangladesh are examined using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey. Both infant and child mortality declined from the mid 1970s but infant mortality declined more quickly. The level of infant mortality in 1989 was around 100 per 1000 live births while child mortality (5q0) was 200 per 1000 live births. Life table analysis confirms the change in infant and child mortality. The decline in infant mortality is attributed to the introduction of improved public health measures and access to maternal and child health services.

Influences of selected socio-economic and demographic variables on fertility in Bangladesh

"The data used in this study are from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (1989 BFS), which was conducted...by the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT)....A two-stage probability sample design was used for the survey.... It has been found that female age at marriage has a significant direct negative influence on fertility. Thus, raising the age at marriage by implementing a minimum-age marriage law is likely to lower fertility on a national scale. Duration of breast-feeding is also found to have a significant direct negative effect on fertility....Fetal loss appears to have a significant direct positive effect on fertility...which means that mothers who have experienced fetal loss are found to have higher fertility.... Maternal mortality is also high in Bangladesh. Therefore, it is essential to provide primary health care, particularly maternal and child health care, for surviving children."

Contraception among adolescents in Bangladesh

Data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey were used to investigate the contraceptive behavior of married adolescents (age range: 10-19 years) in comparison with that of married adults. Marriage occurs at an early age in Bangladesh and is almost universal. Thus, adolescent fertility contributes substantially to overall fertility. The 11,906 women interviewed included 1922 (16.1%) adolescents. Knowledge of family planning (FP) was almost universal among both groups, with specific knowledge about methods slightly lower among adolescents. Ever use of a method was reported by 26.3% of the adolescents and 48.4% of the adults. The contraceptive prevalence rate was 15.3% among adolescents (10.7% modern and 4.6% traditional methods) and 34.4% for adults (10.5% female sterilization, 9.9% oral contraceptives, and 6.4% traditional methods). Little difference was found in the attitudes towards contraceptives of adults and adolescents. 83% of adolescents and 58% of adults indicated an intention to use a method in the future. When attitudes about family size were indecisive, contraceptive usage was very low. Logistic regression analysis revealed that increased education is the most important factor having a positive effect on the contraceptive use rate for adolescents, followed by participating in family decision-making, frequency of visits by FP workers, region of residence, husband's occupation, and availability of electricity in the household. The policy implication of these findings are that as women's status improves with increased opportunities for education and employment, they will find ways to meet their contraceptive needs. Also, the popularity of traditional methods could be exploited by program managers, since traditional methods can be effective if taught properly and used consistently. Adolescents need to become aware of the negative consequences of early marriage, early pregnancy, and large family size, they need information on the availability of FP methods and their use-effectiveness, they need improved reproductive health care services which are readily available, and they would benefit from programs designed to overcome the resistance of older family members and husbands to FP.

Factors affecting acceptance of immunization among children in rural Bangladesh.

This paper uses the Bangladesh Fertility Survey 1989 data to identify the factors affecting acceptance of immunization among children in rural Bangladesh. Acceptance of DPT, measles and BCG vaccinations were the dependent variables. The independent variables included proximity to health facilities, frequency of visit by health worker, respondent's mobility, media exposure, education, age, economic status of household, region of residence, and gender of child. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the net effects of the variables in addition to univariate analysis. Among the independent variables, proximity to health facility, frequency of health worker's visit, mother's mobility, education, age, gender of child, ownership of radio, economic condition of household, and region of residence showed statistically significant association with acceptance of immunization. The effect of frequency of health worker's visit was dependent on region of residence, possession of radio, and mother's education. The effect of mother's ability to visit health centre alone was also dependent on ownership of radio, economic condition of household, and mother's education.

The use of modern and traditional methods of fertility control in Bangladesh: A multivariate analysis

An attempt has been made to study the use pattern of traditional and modern methods of fertility control among currently married women of reproductive ages utilizing the 1989 BFS data. Bivariate analysis has been employed to study the differentials in the use pattern by some selected demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Also, multivariate logistic regression analysis has been used to identify independent contributions of each selected covariate. It has been observed, however, that there is universality of knowledge about contraceptive methods. Of the total 31 percent, about 23 percent were using modern methods and the rest, 8 percent, traditional methods. Analysis using a logistic regression model showed that visits of family planning workers have very strong and positive influence on the current use of modern contraceptives as compared to traditional methods. Duration of effective marriage also emerged as a strong determinant of modern versus traditional methods use but it influenced modern methods use negatively. Also, administrative division is an important variable. Residents of Rajshahi division were significantly more (relative odds of 2.5) likely to be using modern methods than residents of Chittagong division. The likelihood of women having electricity in their household of being a current user of modern contraceptives is almost 2 times higher compared to women without electricity in their households. Education and occupation of husbands also exerts effect on current use of modern contraceptives. The odds of current use of modern methods among women whose husbands have secondary and higher level of education is one-and-a-half times higher than that of women with husbands having no formal education. However, wives of landowners were less (relative odds of 0.72) likely to use these methods as compared to traditional methods than wives of labourers or farmers. The probability of current use of modern contraceptives was higher (relative odds of 1.5) among women who discussed family planning with their husbands than those who did not.