Impact of Sterilization on Fertility in Southern India

Rajaram S. Potty, J.S.S. Institute of Economic Research
T S Sunil, University of Texas at San Antonio

In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the impact of sterilization on fertility in four southern states in India using the data from the second National Family Health Survey 1998-2000. The demographic significance of sterilization is examined by marital duration and number of births averted in the absence and presence of sterilization. The preliminary results show that significantly high proportion of women from Southern States of India undergoes sterilization within the first 10 years of marriage. The number of children ever born in the last five years prior to the last birth did not vary significantly between sterilized and non-sterilized couples. However, fertility among sterilized women is higher than that of non-sterilized women after controlling for other variables. Results also suggest that about two children per woman were averted through sterilization. However, this number is slightly over two children in States such as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.