Using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey and the 1993–94 and 1996–97 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys, this article investigates the effect of education on fertility. It also examines the effect of education on age at marriage at different time periods. Well-educated women were observed to have fewer children than uneducated women. The data also show that the average age at marriage is more than two years higher for women having secondary or higher level of education compared to those who have no education. Educational attainment of woman is generally considered to be a useful index of socioeconomic status as well as of the level of overall social sophistication and, therefore, it is inversely related to the desire for additional children.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BerelsonB., Social Science Research in Population, Population and Development Review, 2: 2, pp. 219–266, 1976.
2.
CaldwellJ. C., Mass Education as a Determinant of the Timing of Fertility Decline, Population and Development Review, 6, pp. 225–255, 1980.
3.
KhudaB. and HowladerS. R., Fertility in Bangladesh: Levels, Trends and Differentials, Asian Profile, 16: 6, pp. 162–176, 1988.
4.
KhanH. T. A., A Multilevel Modelling Approach to the Determinants of Urban and Rural Fertility in Bangladesh, Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 12, pp. 55–74, 1997.
5.
NairN. K. and SmithL., Reasons for Not Using Contraceptives: An International Comparison, Studies in Family Planning, 15: 2, pp. 84–92, 1984.
6.
WidayatunM., Women's Status and Child Survival in West Java, Indonesia, Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 6: 1, pp. 38–46, 1991.
7.
LevineR. A.LevineS. E.RichmanA., Women's Schooling and Child Care in the Demographic Transition: A Mexican Case Study, Population and Development Review, 17: 3, pp. 459–496, 1991.
8.
RobA. K. U., Regional Variations and Determinants of Fertility in Bangladesh, Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1987.
9.
ChaudhuryR. H., The Influence of Female Education, Labor Force Participation, and Age at Marriage on Fertility Behavior in Bangladesh, Social Biology, 31, pp. 59–74, 1984.
10.
JejeebhoyS. J., Women's Education, Autonomy and Reproductive Behavior: Assessing What We Have Learned, paper presented in a conference at the East-West Center in Honolulu, December 1995.
11.
CaldwellJ. C., Theory of Fertility Decline, Academic Press, London, 1982.
12.
FolbreN., Gender Coalitions: Extrafamily Influences on Intrafamily Inequality, in International Resource Allocation in Developing Countries: Models, Methods, and Policy, HaddadL.HoddinottJ., and AldermanH. (eds.), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp. 263–274, 1997.
13.
EsterlinR. A. and CrimminsE. M., An Exploratory Study of the Synthesis Framework of Fertility Determinants with World Fertility Survey Data, Scientific Reports, 40, International Statistical Institute, Voorburg, Netherlands, 1982.
14.
OliverR., Fertility and Child Schooling in Ghana: Evidence of a Quality/Quantity Tradeoff, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Miami, May 5–7, 1994.
15.
CoxD. R., The Analysis of Binary Data, Methuen, London, 1970.
16.
SuitsD. B., Use of Dummy Variables in Regression Equations, A Journal of American Statistical Association, 52: 280, pp. 313–551, 1957.
17.
HasanK., Media Effectiveness Study 1991, Non-Traditional and Traditional Media, SMC, Dhaka, 1991.
18.
MaloneyC.AzizA. K. M., and SarkerP. C., Beliefs and Fertility in Bangladesh, ICDDR'B: Dhaka, Bangladesh.
19.
KabirA., Fertility Transition in Bangladesh and Its Determinants: Future Direction and Challenges, Ph.D. thesis, Department of Statistics, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, 2000.
20.
KhudaB., Family Planning in Rural Bangladesh, DERAP Working Paper No. A229, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, 1981.
21.
DixonR. B., Explaining Cross-Cultural Variations in Age at Marriage and Proportions Never Marrying, Population Studies, 25, p. 215, 1971.
22.
ShaikhK., Nuptiality Pattern in Rural Bangladesh, Demography India, 13, pp. 42–53, 1984.
23.
KhudaB., Age at Marriage and Fertility in a Rural Area in Bangladesh. Asian Profile, 13: 6, pp. 541–553, 1985.
24.
KhudaB. and HossainM. B., Fertility Decline in Bangladesh: Towards an Understanding of Major Causes, Health Transition Review Supplement, 6, pp. 155–167, 1996.
