Fertility decline in Asia: The role of marriage change

Abstract

Fertility trends in some Asian countries are presented, particularly those having reached very low levels. Changes in marriage (particularly delays in marriage) in those countries are summarized. Great disparities currently exist in the typical age at marriage of women in Asia, ranging from proportions of 10 to 30 per cent of women remaining single at ages 30 to 34 in some East and South-East Asian countries, to the other extreme in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, where the majority of women are married before age 18. The available evidence about the desegregations of fertility decline into marriage change and marital fertility decline are summarized is discussed. The factors influencing marriage and those influencing fertility within marriage are examined and the extent to which they are interlinked or separate. Policy on marriage change for fertility reduction in countries wishing to lower fertility is briefly discussed. The present article concludes that marriage change has played a considerable role in fertility declines in a number of Asian countries and could do so as well in the higher-fertility countries of Asia that are seeking ways to lower their fertility.