Fertility and family planning in rural Tibet
Goldstein, M.C.; Jiao, B. (Benjor); Beall, C.M.; Tsering, P.
China Journal 47: unknown
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 1324-9347 DOI: 10.2307/3182072Document Number: 252561
This paper reports on a study conducted in the Tibet autonomous region on reproduction, child mortality and family planning. The study was part of a 4-year project on the impact of China's reform policies on rural Tibet that was conducted in collaboration with the Lhasa-based Tibet Academy of Social Sciences. The project studied 13 villages in 4 rural townships ('xiang') in three counties ('xian') in two of Tibet's 7 prefectures. Over 1700 women were interviewed using multiple research methods including lengthy fertility and household surveys, in-depth interviews, informal interviews, focus groups, observation and local records. High levels of fertility were found. Currently married women aged 40-44 averaged 5.7 births. Relatively low levels of offspring mortality were found. 88.4% of the offspring born to currently married women aged 20-59 were alive at the time of the study. The study also found that greater government attention to family planning in the 1990s has been accompanied by the imposition of fines for excess births in some rural areas. However, no evidence of forced abortions or forced sterilizations was found. To the contrary, socioeconomic changes have created structural problems that are focusing rural Tibetans' attention on the increasing cost of large families and motivating couples to voluntarily use family planning.