Covariates of Fertility Behavior among Ever-Married Women in West Bengal, India: Analysis of the National Family Health Survey-4 Data

Abstract Introduction Fertility is one of the important vital components of population dynamics that determine the size and structure of the population in any region. Objective This study deals with the socio-economic and demographic determinants influencing the total Children Ever Born (CEB) i.e. fertility behavior among 17,668 ever-married women (15-49 years) in the West Bengal of India, as discerned from National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4, 2015–2016 data. Methods To find out the results, simple percentage distribution, cross-tabulation, Pearson's χ2 test, and binary logistic regression analysis have been employed to the available NFHS-4 data for selected socio-economic and demographic variables using Data Science software (STATA 12). Results The findings stated that there was significant variation in the likelihood of taking 3 or more children with the selected covariates where it was found that the higher educated women [AOR: 0.0546; 95% CI: 0.0274-0.109], the women who were married at the legal age at marriage i.e. 18 or above [AOR: 0.429; 95% CI: 0.387-0.476], the richest [AOR: 0.444; 95% CI: 0.326-0.605] women, heard family planning through full mass media exposure [AOR: 0.640; 95% CI: 0.484 - 0.845], resided in South Bengal region women [AOR: 0.762; 95% CI: 0.683-0.850], household headship by the female [AOR: 0.734; 95% CI: 0.624 - 0.862] were less likely to take 3 or more children to compared to the reference category. The high likelihood was found among the 35+ years women [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 31.63; 95% CI: 25.07-39.90], among Muslim [AOR: 3.343; 95% CI: 2.887-3.871] women, among the women using contraception [AOR: 1.632; 95% CI: 1.456-1.830] were more likely to have 3 or more children than the reference category in West Bengal. Conclusion There are various contributing covariates for the high fertility, among which are mother’s education, age at first marriage, current age, religion, social groups, wealth index, heard of family planning through mass media exposure, and household headship. All of these were strong covariates for CEB. More focus needs to be placed on the family planning programs, knowledge on contraception use, a wide range of family planning and health-related knowledge spread through mass media.