Understanding Reproductive Change: Kenya, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Costa Rica

THIS BOOK EXPLORES the reasons for fertility change through a comparative study of the process of demographic change in five societies: Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya and the two Indian states of Punjab and Tamil Nadu. In each case, there has been a decisive change towards smaller families and the research sought to identify the common factors within each of the case study areas. The book begins with an introductory chapter and has four further chapters, one for each country study with Ghana being omitted. The introductory chapter considers reproductive change as a social process. The author considers the usefulness of the concept of demographic transition and concludes that there is a need to better understand the role of the state in fertility transition. She then compares the experiences for each of the country studies. Several important factors are identified including the decline in mortality and high levels of poverty combined with a change in expectations about the resource benefits associated with children and modernization (and specifically the provision of education for children and paid employment for women). While provision for family planning may be helpful, fertility change in the four countries being considered has taken place with or without access to modern contraception. Two final sub-sections look in more detail at the role of the state and the implications for policy. The following four chapters described the country experiences in more detail using numerous tables and graphs