Writing the names: marriage style, living arrangements, and first birth interval in a Nepali society
Fricke, T.; Teachman, J.D.
Demography 30(2): 175-188
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0070-3370 PMID: 8500635 DOI: 10.2307/2061836Document Number: 325691
Using data from a Nepali population, this analysis argues that marriage style and postmarital living arrangements affect coital frequency to produce variations in the timing of first birth after marriage. Event history analysis of the first birth interval for 149 women suggests that women's autonomy in marriage decisions and marriage to cross-cousins accelerate the pace of entry into first birth. Extended-household residence with reduced natal kin contact, on the other hand, significantly lengthens the first birth interval. These findings are consistent with previous arguments in the literature while offering new evidence for the impact of extended-family residence on fertility.