Socioeconomic Factors, Intermediate Variables and Fertility in Bangladesh

Summary Cumulative fertility as measured by deviation from the natural fertility schedule is determined more by intermediate variables such as child mortality, the use of supplementary food, lactation, and husband's absence, than by the practice of fertility control using modern contraceptive methods. Socioeconomic factors like education, urban residence and the possession of household assets, though differentiating these intermediate variables of fertility, do not have direct effects on cumulative fertility among the sample of Bangladeshi women in the Bangladesh Fertility Survey. The effect of age, controlling for the effect of these intermediate variables, remains strongly negative, suggesting an early onset of subfecundity. The implications of these findings for fertility trends and differentials in recent decades are discussed.