Determinants of age at first motherhood in Bangladesh

Abstract

Female‟s age at first motherhood is an important determinant of fertility process, which also indicates the status of female in a society. In this research, an attempt has been made to evaluate the female‟s age to give their first birth as well as its significant covariates by utilizing the data extracted from 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard model have been used to identify the association between age at first motherhood and selected background variables. The average age at first motherhood of this study is found to be only 17.92 years. Median age at first motherhood is close to the mean age at 17 years. The study shows that age at first cohabitation is significantly negatively correlated with the timing of first motherhood, while the age at first cohabitation is positively correlated with age at first motherhood. In bivariate analysis, all independent variables are strongly associated with age at first motherhood. The findings of multivariate analysis indicate that age at first cohabitation, spousal age difference, ever use of any method, respondents‟ current age, and respondents‟ education are found to be the significant covariates of age at first motherhood in Bangladesh.