Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

SUMMARY OF FINDINGSThe 1993-94 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) is a nationally-representativesurvey of 9,640 ever-married women age 10-49 and 3,284 of their husbands. The BDHS was designed toprovide information on levels and trends of fertility, family planning knowledge and use, infant and childmortality, and maternal and child health. Fieldwork for the BDHS took place from mid-November 1993 tomid-March 1994.Survey data show that significant progress has been made toward achieving the goals of reducingfertility, increasing contraceptive use, and reducing childhood mortality; however, many challenges stillawait.FERTILITYFertility Decline. BDHS data indicate that the previously documented rapid decline in fertility inBangladesh is not only continuing, but probably accelerating. The total fertility rate has declined from 6.3births per woman in the mid-70s to 3.4 births for the period 1991-93. Since 1989-91, fertility has declinedfrom 4.3 to 3.4 births per woman, a drop of 21 percent in a two-year period. This is the most dramatic dropin fertility ever recorded in Bangladesh. BDHS data indicate that the decline in fertility has occurred amongall age groups of women and in all five administrative divisions of the country at almost the same rate.Fertility Differentials. Although the rate of fertility decline has been generally uni form across groups,significant differences in fertility levels still exist. For example, fertility is considerably higher in ChittagongDivision, with a total fertility rate of 4.0 births per woman, than in Rajsbahi and Khulna Divisions, with a rateof around 3.0 births per woman. Barishal and Dhaka Divisions have intermediate levels of fertility (3.5 birthsper woman). Moreover, fertility is about 30 percent higher in rural areas than in urban areas, a pattem thathas persisted in various censuses and demographic surveys that have been carried out in the country.Fertility levels are closely related to women's education. Women with no formal education give birthto an average of 3.8 children in their lifetime, compared to 2.6 for women with at least some secondaryeducation, a difference of 33 percent. Women with either incomplete primary or complete primary educationhave intermediate fertility rates.Age at First Birth. Although increased contraceptive use undoubtedly accounts for most of thedecline in fertility, increasing age at first birth has also had an impact. The age at which Bangladeshi womenhave their first child has been increasing steadily, paralleling increases in age at marriage. For example, in1975, the median age at first birth among women age 20-24 was 16.8; in 1989, it had risen to 18.0 and, by1993-94, to 18.3. Increases of similar magnitude have occurred for other age cohorts.Despite the trend toward later age at first birth, childbearing still begins early in Bangladesh, with thelarge majority of women becoming mothers before they reach the age of 20. One in three teenage women(age 15-19) is already a mother or pregnant with her first child. Although data from 1991 indicate that therehas been a slight decline over time, early childbearing in Bangladesh remains a challenge to policymakers.BDHS data shows that children bom to young mothers suffer higher rates of morbidity and mortality.Small Family Norm. BDHS data indicate that Bangladeshi couples have accepted the small familynorm. Fifty-six percent of ever-married women prefer a two-child family, and another 24 percent considera three-child family ideal, while only one percent of respondents said they would choose to have six or morechildren. Overall, the mean ideal family size among currently married women is 2.5 children, which is axxi