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EXPLAINING THE FERTILITY PUZZLE IN SRI LANKA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2015

GAMINIRATNE WIJESEKERE  and
DHARMA ARUNACHALAM
GAMINIRATNE WIJESEKERE
Affiliation:
Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
DHARMA ARUNACHALAM*
Affiliation:
Centre for Population and Urban Research, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
*
1Corresponding author. Email: dharma.arunachalam@monash.edu
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Summary

Fertility transition in Sri Lanka began in the mid-1960s and the declining trend continued over the decades. The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2000 showed the total fertility rate (TFR) reaching 1.9 births per woman, a level below replacement fertility. The next DHS of 2006/7 showed a TFR of 2.3. Some have interpreted this pattern as indicating a reversal of the fertility transition. This paper casts doubts on the below-replacement fertility revealed in the 2000 survey.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 845 - 852
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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