A Dharmalingam

This paper examines Muslim-Hindu differences in the desire for an additional child and the use of contraceptives. It uses data from the National Family Health Survey carried out in 1998-99 and employs multivariate and multilevel regression models in data analysis. Results show that Muslim-Hindu differences in the desire for additional children and use of contraceptives are pervasive across India and almost invariant across states and districts. This is consistent with the findings from our analysis of data from the first NFHS in 1992-93. However, Muslim-Hindu differences have narrowed between 1992-93 and 1998-99. It is thus argued that Muslim-Hindu fertility behaviour seems to be moving towards convergence. The pervasiveness of Muslim-Hindu differences in reproductive behaviour calls for complementary ?global explanations?.

A Selective Survey A Dharmalingam Investigation of aggregate demographic change in a population requires study of different demographic regimes contained in the whole. Demographic forces should also be viewed in the context of overall social development in concrete historical forms. Thus India's post-Independence demography, to be properly understood, must be studied in terms of the class structure and class relations not only of post-Independence India but also of the pre-Independence period under native and foreign economic and political powers.