An Analysis of Fertility Differentials by Religion in Kerala State: A Test of Interaction Hypotheses

Dr. Manoj Alagarajan, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

In Kerala fertility among Muslims is higher and contraceptive prevalence lower than Hindus and Christians even after controlling for key socio-economic and demographic variables. However, differentials may persist at each level of socio-economic characteristics. The paper examines the interaction effects using National Family Health Survey 1 data in Kerala state. The analysis found Hindu-Muslim fertility differences at low level of education do not persist at higher levels. For contraceptive use wider gaps at middle level of education and at medium level of standard of living than at lower and higher levels are found. This indicates that couples at different socio-economic settings make different decisions in spite of belonging to the same religion. The fact that at higher levels of socio-economic status fertility of Muslims is low and not much different than the fertility of other religions suggests that the observed fertility gap between Hindus/Christians and Muslims is a passing phenomenon.