Local Factors Affecting Fertility of Women in Sri Lanka
- July 9, 2021
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Local Factors Affecting Fertility of Women in Sri Lanka
R.P.G. Amithani 1*, D.S. Rodrigo1 and C.L. Jayasinghe 2
1Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
2Department of Statistics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Abstract: Human fertility is a function of various factors that contribute to population dynamics. It may be defined as the actual reproductive performance of a woman. Fertility is a major public health concern because it affects economic productivity, growth of the population and other social facilities. This study aims to find the demographic, socio economic, cultural and health related factors that affect the fertility of reproductive aged women in Sri Lanka. The study was based on a Sri Lankan demographic and health survey (SLDHS) conducted in 2016. The sample consisted of 11, 201 ever married women within reproductive ages ranging from 15 to 49 years. Among the considered social, demographic, cultural and health-related factors, the statistical analysis which was conducted employing chi-square tests and logistic regression models revealed that, socio-demographic factors such as the woman’s residential district, ethnicity, wealth index, education level, occupation, and partner’s education level and working status were found to have a significant effect on odds of having at least the required fertility level for her age at 5% level of significance. The odds of having at least the required fertility level for her age of a woman belonging to the lowest quintile of wealth index was 48.1% more than that of a woman belonging to the highest quintile of wealth index. The results revealed by this study will be beneficial for relevant authorities when organizing awareness programs on fertility for ever married women in Sri Lanka.
Key words: Binary logistic regression model, Ever married woman, Fertility
I. INTRODUCTION
Fertility is the ability of a woman to bear a child in her childbearing age. Human fertility is one of the major elements in population dynamics that determine the size and the structure of the population and it is one of the major components among the three principal components of a population. The other two components are mortality and migration (“Department of Census and Statistics,” 2020). “Total Fertility Rate (TFR)” is the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to by the end of her childbearing years (“World Health Organization,” 2020).
Although the universal population increases from time to time in a considerable manner, according to the 2015 United Nations world fertility report, the world fertility rate has started to decrease in the 1970’s and it has become considerably low in 2010-2015.
