| Abstract: | This paper presents the main findings of a survey conducted in 1955 regarding the fertility of women in the city of Sholapur. 1203 families (3535 males and 3289 females) comprised the sample. 1337 women were of childbearing age and the total number of children born to women the year before the inquiry was 321. The overall total marital fertility rate for Sholapur women was 7106.01 children/1000 women or about 7 children/woman. Proportion of female births to total births in the sample was 0.4829. Gross reproduction was 2.9 per woman. Paternal and maternal net reproduction rates of 1.8 and 1.5 represented a rate of increase in the male and female populations per 33 and 27 years respectively. None of the biological and social factors considered was found to have any differential effect on marital fertility of the women. This result was expected, as evidence suggest that the various social, religious, educational, and economic classes in Sholapur are quite similar with regards to marriage and contraceptive behavior. Tables on values of chi-square are also appended. |
