Relative Impact of 'Starting, Spacing and Stopping Fertility Behaviour' in Sri Lanka

Abstract

It has been observed that in the 1960s, the Ig (index of marital fertility) in Sri Lanka for the first time, fell at least ten per cent below the plateau level of the pre-1960 decades [1]. By the 1960s, the first generation with mass schooling and the last generation of parents without mass schooling were in the first half and the second half of their childbearing period, respectively. This recognizes the fact that both these generations contributed to the first fall of ten percent in the Ig during the 1960s. Relating the generations who contributed to the onset of Sri Lanka's fertility transition to the introduction of the mass education programme seems relevant since Sri Lanka's educational system was heavily influenced by the British educational system and the commencement of mass education occurred just 15 years prior to the onset of the fertility transition.