Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Birth Interval Dynamics in Manipur: A Survival Analysis

Abstract

The birth interval is a major determinant of levels of fertility in high fertility populations. A house-to-house survey of 1225 women in Manipur, a tiny state in North Eastern India was carried out to investigate birth interval patterns and its determinants. Using survival analysis, among the nine explanatory variables of interest, only three factors – infant mortality, Lactation and use of contraceptive devices have highly significant effect (P<0.01) on the duration of birth interval and only three factors – age at marriage of wife, parity and sex of child are found to be significant (P<0.05) on the duration variable.