The relationship between child marriage and fertility can be due in part to the socio-economic and cultural context in which girls who marry early tend to live. But child marriage may also have a direct impact on fertility after controlling for socio-economic and cultural context. Marrying early is often associated with a lack of agency for girls, including in terms of access to family planning that can help delay or reduce births if women so desire. For societies, higher total fertility rates lead to higher population growth, lower growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, slower poverty reduction, and difficulties for governments to provide basic services to a growing population. This brief estimates the impact of child marriage on the number of children that women have over their lifetime in Bangladesh, as part of a series of standardized briefs on this topic for multiple countries.

FIAS Occasional Paper No. 6. Examines and compares the recent experiences of a number of developing countries in encouraging backward linkages, the purchasing of goods and services from locally owned suppliers by companies controlled by foreign firms. The authors argue that economic liberalization helps rather than hurts domestic suppliers, that institutional support focusing on upgrading the capabilities of domestic suppliers is critical, and that promotional programs combining public and private resources can accelerate linkage development.

This pioneering study describes the psychological development and gender role expectations in the various life stages of an individual in Bangladeshi culture and relates these stages to sexual and reproductive behavior. The authors, both anthropologists, examined the topical life histories of 65 male and female respondents from 5 contiguous villages in Matlab Thana. These personal histories form the basis for chapters on stages of life, childhood and psychosexual development, adolescence and gender roles, adulthood and gender roles, sexual relations outside marriage, range of sexual behavior, and reciprocal relationships within the life cycle. Then, fertility is examined from an anthropological perspective in the final chapters on cultural factors and fertility, fertility control and the stages of life, traditional communication and knowledge of sex, and family life education. At least half of the life history respondents expressed support for family planning and modern methods. Maximum fertility is prevented in the 2nd half of women's reproductive years by traditional mechanisms such as self-restraint, absence of spouse, occasional abstention, and rhythm. The use of modern contraception is supported on the grounds of avoiding economic hardship, maintaining mental peace, and leading a happy life. The most useful approach for family planning field workers seems to be to get to know the men of the village in public places, then the older women, and finally the young women, establishing at each stage the confidence and fictive kinship relationship appropriate. In this way, communication is possible without challenging deeply rooted distinctions of gender roles and life stages.

Serving as a companion to Growing Up Global, this book from the National Research Council explores how the transition to adulthood is changing in developing countries in light of globalization and what the implications of these changes might be for those responsible for designing youth policies and programs. Presenting a detailed series of studies, this volume both complements its precursor and makes for a useful contribution in its own right. It should be of significant interest to scholars, leaders of civil society, and those charged with designing youth policies and programs.