ABSTRACT

Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, has experienced a dramatic decline in fertility since 1985, with a decline in the total fertility rate from 5.5–2.1. International researchers have debated the reasons for this rapid decline, with some studies attributing it primarily to family planning programmes and others pointing at the simultaneous increase in the education of women and other socioeconomic factors. Using data from seven-rounds of the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS), we comprehensively review fertility trends by reconstructing cohort and period fertility indicators by educational attainment. Multilevel regression shows a robust negative association between fertility and educational attainment at the individual and community levels. Pathway’s analysis reveals that female education has a significant effect on declining fertility desires dominating all other effects. Increased women's education and the associated diffusion of smaller desired family size might be the primary factor driving the impressive fertility decline in Bangladesh.

摘要

孟加拉国是世界上最贫穷的国家之一，自1985年以来生育率急剧下降，总和生育率从5.5下降到2.1。国际研究人员对这种迅速下降的原因进行了辩论，一些研究将其主要归因于计划生育计划，而另一些研究则指出女性教育和其他社会经济因素的同时增加。我们使用七轮孟加拉国人口健康调查 (BDHS) 的数据，通过根据受教育程度重建队列和时期生育指标，全面审查生育趋势。多层次回归表明，在个人和社区层面，生育率与受教育程度之间存在稳健的负相关关系。Pathway 的分析表明，女性教育对降低生育欲望有显着影响，主导所有其他影响。妇女受教育程度的提高以及随之而来的理想家庭规模缩小可能是导致孟加拉国生育率显着下降的主要因素。