Marital fertility at older ages in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

This paper evaluates the evidence for the existence of a social custom believed to be important in influencing the fertility of older women in traditional societies. In such a system it is improper for a woman to continue sexual relations once she attains (potential) grandmotherhood. Thus, the hypothesis is that such a change in familial status leads to reduction in marital fertility. The hypothesis is tested with World Fertility Survey data using bivariate and logit regression analysis. The results support the custom's existence in Nepal and Bangladesh, but probably not in Sri Lanka. Its demographic impact, in terms of reduction in total fertility rate, amounts to about one-third of a child in Nepal and Bangladesh, but is insignificant in Sri Lanka. Its effect on the age pattern of natural fertility, estimated by using Nepalese data, is also large, thus indicating its importance as an explanation for deviations from Coale and Trussell's standard of natural fertility.