Population Change in a Rural Area of Bangladesh, 1967-87

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Abstract
The Matlab subdistrict of Bangladesh is unique in the developing world in the extent of demographic data available over a long time period, during which a serious famine occurred and a family planning program that employed village women as home visitors was introduced within the context of maternal and child health services. These data demonstrate that fertility in this population is well below the maximum biologically feasible, primarily due to the long and intense breast-feeding practiced, that seasonality of births is pronounced, and that fertility drops in response to drastic food shortage. Sex differences in mortality favor males, but during famine the disparity was reduced. Despite arguments that family planning programs are ineffective and use resources that could be applied in areas more relevant to development, the Matlab family planning program has led to both reduced fertility and reduced mortality and may be changing the status and roles of women.