The determinants of reproductive change in Bangladesh: success in a challenging environment

The book has three aims: to document with maximum precision the timing, magnitude, and nature of fertility change. Having established the demographic facts, the second aim is to assess alternative explanations. It reviews social and economic changes and their possible links to reduced demand or need for children. The focus then shifts to consideration of the role of the family planning program in reducing fertility. The implications of the analysis for future population policy and programs are then considered. The book concludes that it has been the easy availability of contraception, and not reduced demand for children, which has led to a decline in fertility. -after Editors