Age at first birth and fertility level of women in Kerala: A cohort analysis

This paper has made an attempt to see whether the timing of first birth and fertility level of women in Kerala have changed over the years and whether such changes also occurred among women across various socio-economic and demographic classes. The findings show that there is a rising trend in the age at first birth of women over the years on the one hand and there is a declining trend in fertility level of women over the years on the other hand. Hence, it is evident that later the age at first birth of a woman, lower the fertility level of a woman. Both the Hindu and Christian women had their first births at later ages and hence had lower fertility than the Muslim women over the birth cohorts. There is a positive relationship between the educational attainment of a woman and the timing of first birth of a woman in general and over the years. On the other hand, a negative relationship between the educational attainment of a woman and fertility level of a woman overall and across the birth cohorts. The working women and the rural women had higher mean age at first birth and lower fertility level than their counterparts in general and in all the birth cohorts.