Age at marriage and fertility in Sri Lanka : a study based on the 1971 census of population in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to study the marriage patterns and the relationship between age at marriage and fertility of the currently married females aged 15-49 years in the two zones : the Wet Zone and the Dry Zone. The data source is the 1971 Census of population (10 per cent sample) in Sri Lanka. The females in the Dry Zone married nearly three years earlier than the females in the Wet Zone. The urban-rural difference in age at marriage within the zones seems less significant than the zonal differences. When correlated by ethnicity, the Low Country Sinhalese in both the zones were the latest to marry. The estate Indian Tamils in the Wet Zone and the Moors in the Dry Zone were the earliest to marry. The age at marriage of the Moors in the Wet Zone was remarkably high, as compared to that of their counterparts in the Dry Zone. In all the cases education seemed to be the most important of the variables which had an impact on age at marriage, having a positive association with age at marriage. Fertility of the Dry Zone females was somewhat higher than that of the Wet Zone females. In both the zones, fertility was inversely associated with age at marriage as well as with education. The rising age at marriage which was associated with education had the effect of minimizing the fertility differences between the zones. However, the fertility achievements of the rural females in both the zones was somewhat higher than that of the urban females. The estate females recorded a strikingly low level of fertility. The highest fertility by ethnicity, was recorded for the Kandyan Sinhalese in the Dry Zone, whereas the Indian Tamils had the lowest fertility achievements. The higher education of the females had the effect of generating low fertility norms among the females in both the zones. Show more