Page 23 - 5th APA Conference Program Book Final

PS 1.1 Fertility and Reproductive Health

10:15 - 11:45am Tuesday, 3rd August, 2021

Presentation Type LIVE Session
Moderator: Kanokwan Tharawan , Anindita Dyah Sekar Puri

204 Interregional Variations of Fertility Contours in India

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Saswata Ghosh , Md. Zakaria Siddique , Debojyoti Majumder
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1 Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, Kolkata, India. Institute for Economics and Peace, Sydney, Australia.
3 SIGMA Foundation, Kolkata, India
Categories

3. Fertility, Fecundity, Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights

Abstract

Since independence, population stabilization has been one of the prime concerns in India’s development agenda.
Although fertility decline in India has been underway since 1970s, fertility levels in the northern and north-central
states are continued to be high. Using data from Census 2011 and other district level surveys the present study
adopted the analytical approach proposed by Mari Bhat (1996) to explain interregional variations of fertility in India.
Additionally, individual level data from National Family Health Survey-4 conducted during 2015-16 were used to
compare and substantiate findings of district-level analyses. By employing multilevel linear regressions, we found
that although factors representing socio-economic structure, ideational changes, and health and family welfare
could adequately explain regional variations of fertility even in present day Indian society, new forms of social
entities are also emerging which would also contribute in fertility transition. We suggest that efficient
implementation of family welfare programme focusing on spacing methods for better child and maternal health
outcomes is indeed needed in the regions with high fertility. Further, propagating benefit of small family size
through mass media and community-based organizations, and socio-economic development at the macro level
could play a catalytic role in this process.

1048 Trends in Reproductive Inequality in Sri Lanka

Manori Weeratunga

Department of Demography, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Categories

3. Fertility, Fecundity, Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights

Abstract

Reproductive inequalities most often highlight the persistence of social inequities in a country. In turn, these health
inequalities affect the wellbeing of women. This study presents current fertility, trends in fertility, cumulative fertility,
the length of birth intervals, and the age at which women initiate childbearing by different sectors, namely, urban,
rural and estate sectors to show inequalities among their reproductive behaviour. The study uses Sri Lanka
Demographic and Health Surveys (SLDHS) starting from 1987 to 2016. Rural sector shows higher fertility in the

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