Fertility Levels

  Table D 9 carries estimates of age-specific fertility rates (ASFR), total fertility rates (TFR) and crude birth rates (CBR) for the three year spans preceding the first and the second NFHS. TFR is the most commonly used measure of fertility, calculated on the basis of the ASFRs and represents the number of children a women would bear during her reproductive years. Our Table shows that in West Bengal TFR fell from 2.92  to 2.29 between the first and the second NFHS,  a decline of 22 per cent. In 1998-99, both the TFR and CBR were found to be 50 per cent higher in rural as compared to urban areas and 70 per cent of urban fertility and 60 per cent of rural fertility were found to be concentrated in  the prime childbearing ages of 20-29.Fertility at age 15-19 years accounted for about one-fourth of the total fertility level, pointing to a substantial occurrence of early childbearing. According to NFHS 2, at current levels of fertility, women in West Bengal will have on average  2.3 children each ( one of the lowest fertility levels in the country),  and will soon approach the replacement level of just over two children per woman. Age-specific fertility rates for rural and urban West Bengal are shown in Chart D II. A summary of  state level TFRs and West Bengal's relatively better position will be found in Table S 1 ( in Section 1).

Table D 9  :  Fertility Indicators  from NFHS-1 and NFHS-2

West Bengal and India

Source : NFHS 2 -India , Table 4.3; NFHS 2 - West Bengal, Table 4.

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