Has the declining age at marriage contributed to reverse fertility decline in Sri Lanka?

In Sri Lanka, during the past century, the female age at marriage increased almost by seven years from 18.3 years in 1901 to 25.5 years in 1993. Since then age at marriage of females demonstrated a significant decline - to low as 23.6 years in 2006-07. Along with the decline among the females age at marriage of males also shows a decline. The main objective of this paper is to explore the impact of this unexpected decline in age at marriage of both sexes, particularly females, on fertility change and implications in Sri Lanka. The study analyses data primarily from the Population Censuses and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs). The Bongaarts’s Decomposition Technique has been applied to investigate the impact of age at marriage on fertility increase. The analysis found that proportion of women married has significantly impact on the increase of fertility in Sri Lanka during the period of 2000 and 2006-07. The paper further discusses the relevant policy implications by emphasizing the importance of improving the knowledge of contraceptive use among youth and effectively implementing the existing law relating to age at marriage.