Environmental and other factors influencing fertility in Sri Lanka

The paper explores factors that influence fertility levels in Sri Lanka. It shows that three environmental variables and two socioeconomic variables explain 76–4% of the variance among districts.

Factor analysis of some socio-economic and demographic variables for Bangladesh

The author carries out an exploratory factor analysis of some socioeconomic and demographic variables for Bangladesh using the classical or common factor approach with the varimax rotation method. The socioeconomic and demographic indicators used in this study include literacy, rate of growth, female employment, economic development, urbanization, population density, childlessness, sex ratio, proportion of women ever married, and fertility. The 18 administrative districts of Bangladesh constitute the unit of analysis. 3 common factors--modernization, fertility, and social progress--are identified in this study to explain the correlations among the set of selected socioeconomic and demographic variables.

Does economic development necessarily lead to a decline in population? Some contrary evidence

This is a summary of a micro-level study conducted in three villages in India to examine the impact of economic development on population growth. The emphasis is on variables pertaining to social structure, particularly occupational status. "It was found that there was no significant relationship between level of income and occupational prestige on the one hand and the size of the family on the other in every village....The correlations between educational level of the head of the household and the size of his family were....small and because of the low levels of literacy they have not played any significant role in the demographic change in any of the villages." The author concludes that "if the parents try to restrict the size of their families it is not so much because they do not derive...economic benefits from their children but because thereby they hope to improve the career prospects of their children."

Recent changes in the sociodemographic profile of sterilization acceptors in Nepal

The records of 8056 Nepalese males and 9291 females sterilized from 1979-1983 were analyzed. Compared with data from previous studies (1970-1976), significant decreases occurred in the average age of female acceptors (30.6 vs. 33.1, P less than 0.01) and wives of male acceptors (28.4 vs. 31.7, P less than 0.01). Also, the average number of living children per couple decreased by one child (4.9-3.9, P less than 0.01) for male acceptors and 0.6 (4.8-4.2, P less than 0.01) for female acceptors. Finally in 83.2% of the cases, the operation was performed within 3 years of the last delivery.

The impact of development and population policies on fertility in India

This article examines the impact of development and population policies on fertility decline and regional variations in India during the 1970s. Indicators of development at the household level include female literacy and education, infant mortality, and poverty; at the village level they include availability of such social services as schools, medical facilities, and transportation and communication facilities. Multiple regression analysis of data aggregated at the state level demonstrates that conditions conducive to fertility decline include high adult female literacy and low infant mortality as indicators of social development, and high contraceptive use and, to a lesser extent, high female age at marriage as proximate determinants of fertility. There are reasons to believe that India's national family planning program contributed to the decline in fertility observed since the 1960s. The pace of fertility decline in the future will depend upon the pace of infant mortality decline, enhancement in female education, and improvements in family planning programs.

Demographic development in a developing economy: a case study of Uttar Pradesh

"Patterns of and trends in demographic development in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have been analysed in this paper. Indices of urbanisation, literacy and occupational structure were used for this purpose. Their aggregate index represented the level of demographic development." The data are for 242 subdivisions of Uttar Pradesh for the census years 1971 and 1981. Particular attention is given to regional differentials in demographic indicators. The relationships among economic development and the measurements of literacy, urbanization, and occupational status are explored