Mechanisms Underlying the Differences in Fertility Patterns of Bengalee Women from Three Socio-Economic Groups

Chandrasekaran, C; George, M. V.

doi:10.2307/3348611

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…A survey in three socioeconomically distinct parts of the city of Calcutta in 1947-49 found that, in the locality in which the population was largely upper-class and educated, as many as 38 percent of married women reported having used some form of birth control, this figure being as high as 18 percent even for women aged 40-44 at the time of the survey. That is, in this part of the city, significant levels of contraceptive use seem to have existed as far back as the 1930s and 1940s (Chandrasekaran and George 1962).…”

Section: The Elites and Reproductive Changementioning

confidence: 96%

Some preconditions for fertility decline in Bengal: History, language identity, and an openness to innovations

Basu¹,

Amin²

2000

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This article argues that looking solely for the immediate causes of reproductive change may distort our understanding of policy options by failing to take into account the historical and cultural factors that affect not only the impact of policies and programs but the very existence and nature of these policies and programs. The article examines the historical origins and spread of "modern" ideas in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. It concludes that a colonial history in which education and modernization processes took hold very early among the elites in the larger Bengal region was paradoxically accompanied by a strong allegiance to the Bengali language. This strong sense of language identity has promoted secularism because language has competed with religious and other sectarian identities. It has also facilitated and reinforced the diffusion of modern ideas both within and between the two Bengali-speaking regions. Thus, to understand the fertility decline in Bangladesh, for example, one needs to look also at cultural boundaries. In this case, the cultural commonality through language facilitates the spread of new ideas across the two Bengals; and the political and religious separation between them increases the heterogeneity and newness of the ideas thus spread. In turn, the strong sense of language identity has facilitated mass mobilization more easily and intensely within the two Bengals. Through both these processes, Bangladesh and West Bengal today are more "modern" and more amenable to social change than many other parts of South Asia and the Middle East.

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Section: The Elites and Reproductive Changementioning

confidence: 96%

Some preconditions for fertility decline in Bengal: History, language identity, and an openness to innovations

Basu¹,

Amin²

2000

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“…43 Some earlier studies on the fertility dynamics of West Bengal observed that in Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta), among the upper class and educated people, the use of contraception was reasonably high even for women aged 40-44 at the time of survey during 1947-48. 44 MariBhat (1996) showed that Kolkata had the lowest total fertility rate (TFR), that is 2.0, in the country in the late 1970s, while the rate was between 4 and 5 in the predominantly rural districts of West Bengal. The study found that even during 1984-1990, the fertility rates in the rural districts remained almost at the same level or had declined only marginally.…”

Section: Work Which Have Led Up To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural–Urban Fertility Convergence, Differential Stopping Behavior, and Contraceptive Method Mix in West Bengal, India: A Spatiotemporal Analysis

Das

Ghosh

2020

Journal of Family History

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The present study attempts to understand how the interplay between differential stopping behavior and contraceptive use dynamics may have resulted in the convergence of rural-urban fertility in West Bengal, India. Using data from the National Family Health Surveys and employing sequential logit regressions, we were able to confirm that differential stopping behavior, particularly among the rural women—by adopting contraception at first parity after having a boy, or choosing modern methods over natural methods at second parity after having two successive boys—may be one of the factors that led to the rural-urban convergence of fertility.

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“…Several prior studies on West Bengal have indicated a reliance on traditional contraceptive methods and diffusion processes through peers and elites leading to an early decline in fertility (Chandrasekaran & George, 1962;Pakrasi & Halder, 1981;Basu & Amin, 2000). However, increased age at marriage and education have been shown to have more direct roles in fertility decline (Nag, 1984;Das, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural–urban differentials in fertility levels and fertility preferences in West Bengal, India: a district-level analysis

Chatterjee

2019

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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Fertility in West Bengal is one of the lowest in India, and this relies heavily on the use of traditional methods of contraception. Social scientists and demographers have pointed to the historical role of the diffusion process of adhering to a small family size. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Kolkata district, the state capital, is the lowest in the country, and has been a centre of low fertility historically. However, stark differences in rural–urban fertility rates have existed over the last few decades in West Bengal, but these have now started to narrow. This study aimed to capture the macro-level rural–urban differences in fertility levels and preferences in the West Bengal, and understand how socioeconomic factors affect these. Data were drawn from the Census of India (2011) and NFHS-4 (2015–16). Using census data and the Reverse-Surviving Method, the TFR of West Bengal was estimated to be 1.9, varying between 2.1 and 1.7 in rural and urban areas. The rural–urban gap in the district-level fertility rates was prominent, specifically in districts with higher levels of fertility. Kolkata, Hugli and North Twenty-Four Parganas had the lowest-low fertility (TFR = <1.5). Fewer than half of women with only one living child wanted further children, and this was somewhat higher in rural areas. Around 40% of women had achieved their desired number of children. However, a substantial proportion (43.1%) had a lower number of children than desired, varying between 45.9% and 41.7% in urban and rural areas, respectively. Contraception use, female education and age at marriage, along with the other socioeconomic factors, had a greater influence on rural fertility rates than on urban counterparts in the districts of West Bengal. Further research should be directed at understanding the contemporary fertility decline as well as the gap between ideal and desired number of children, specifically in those districts with very low fertility rates.

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Mechanisms Underlying the Differences in Fertility Patterns of Bengalee Women from Three Socio-Economic Groups

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Some preconditions for fertility decline in Bengal: History, language identity, and an openness to innovations

Some preconditions for fertility decline in Bengal: History, language identity, and an openness to innovations

Rural–Urban Fertility Convergence, Differential Stopping Behavior, and Contraceptive Method Mix in West Bengal, India: A Spatiotemporal Analysis

Rural–urban differentials in fertility levels and fertility preferences in West Bengal, India: a district-level analysis

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