BENGALURU: Higher the schooling rate, lower the rate of marriage and childbearing among younger women in Karnataka. This link between education and fertility was revealed in the National Family Health Survey-5 for the year 2019-2020, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The proportion which started childbearing is high at 18 per cent, among young women who had no schooling, compared to 3 per cent among women with 12 or more years of schooling.
At current fertility rates, women with no schooling have an average of 0.4 children more than women with 12 or more years of schooling. This data reflects the situation on the ground in urban and rural areas, observed Dr Carolin Elizabeth George, head of Community Health and Research Division, Bangalore Baptist Hospital.
“We have observed that in low resource settings, for example the slums of DJ Halli, girls who mature by the age of 13 are married and have a child the next year. When not given an opportunity to study, there is no direction, resulting in early marriage. These young women do not have bargaining power when it comes to when they want to have their first child, spacing between multiple children and even use of contraceptives,” Dr Carolin said.
The survey found that the percentage of women aged 20-24 married before 18 years of age has reduced marginally in Karnataka -- from 21.4 per cent (NFHS-4) to 21.3 per cent. Women aged 15 to 19 years who were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey, reduced from 7.8 per cent to 5.4 per cent. In addition, total fertility rate decreased from 1.8 per cent to 1.7 per cent.
Dr Carolin said that female literacy has increased this decade, compared to the last, although there are pockets where disparities are more. “Education has a bearing on when the girl is married. We also see fewer teen pregnancies. Economic growth and education has resulted in nuclear families with smaller family sizes. This is the trend in developed countries as well,” she added.
Religion also has a bearing on fertility, the survey reported. Muslim women have an average of 0.4 children more than Hindu women (total fertility rate of 2.1, compared with 1.6) and 0.6 children more than Christian women (TFR of 1.5). TFR is defined as children per woman.