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Socio-economic determinants of fertility: assessment of findings and implications.


 Among the major reasons for marital fertility decline in the Asian and Pacific region are contraception and increases in the female age at marriage. This paper considers a variety of socioeconomic determinants at the national, community and individual levels in order to identify a plausible explanation. The paper concludes that the onset and early stages of fertility decline are determined largely by the acceptance of contraception which frees parents from unwanted childbearing. It also finds that the onset of fertility decline is marked by regional or cultural patterning, but that officially sponsored family planning programs can affect the speed of fertiltiy change or the timing of the onset of change. This analysis leads to several policy implications. In a broad and long term perspective, education which engenders a receptivity to new knowledge and ideas emerges as a key social determinant for reproductive change. In the shorter term, the further promotion of the means of fertility control offers the best prospects, by far, for fertility reduction. The policy priority could be to communicate the message that it is both feasible and morally right to regulate fertility and to improve the quality and coverage of services.
